Dragon Ball - Heart of Adventurers
by LastationLover5000
Summary: On a fated day, Goku chose not to fulfill a promise he had no grasp of making or what it meant. Since then, a powerful bond begins to be made aware to himself and his childhood friend, Bulma. With an uncertain future opened before them, what will become of their friends, enemies and those surrounding them? Find out, in Heart of the Adventurers!
1. Bulma and Son Goku

**Dragon Ball - The Heart of Adventurers**

**By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, Edited by Firegod00**

**Chapter 1 - Bulma and Son Goku**

* * *

Today was a day of destiny.

Before the eyes of Bulma her childhood friend, Son Goku, stood upon the tiled ring. His taller frame with wide shoulders hardly looked recognizable had it not been for the crop of pointy black tresses atop his child faced head. While initially garbed in tunics he became accustomed from his training in Kami's Palace, he now bore the garbs of Muten Rōshi's Turtle Hermit School of orange and blue. His appearance was both intimidating and welcome to the young purple haired woman's eyes.

This was the 3rd Tenkaichi Budōkai, officially the 23rd in its long running existence, that he'd he participate in. In the last two he had come close to victory, only to have it lost to him by the Crane Schooled Tenshinhan in the 22nd and the "mysterious" Jackie Chun at the 21st Tournament. Having come a long ways since he was a lost child living in the woods, he truly looked like a man ready to take the prize.

The only thing that was troubling wasn't the preliminary match he won handily in. No, it was the combatant registered Anonymous, presented with long beautiful raven locks framed over her brow to her ears and over the top of her back. A blue with red trimming kimono fastened over her gorgeous body, further hiding her past identity to the man in front of him. Hard onyx orbs met mutually hued circles that looked back blankly with confusion at the anger projected at him.

"Um sorry," Goku apologized with confusion in his eyes. Seeing her not relent after his meek attempt, he reached up and laughed sheepishly as he scratched his chin. Beads of sweat crawled down his scalp as he looked at the angry woman, "you seem really mad at me. Any reason why?"

"Hmph! Why wouldn't I be mad at you?!" The woman titled as Anonymous yelled back, tossing her head to the side with indignation.

Goku could do nothing but gawk. Everyone on the sidelines looked on with confusion as they didn't know who this beautiful stranger was. The more the banter was exchanged, it looked like nothing was going to be gained by sitting around. Thankfully the announcer called the fight and got things underway.

But that didn't stop the young woman's assault on Goku while she rebuked him. The two's fight looked like an awkward dance, with the prior aggressively chasing the latter's mostly defensive maneuvers. Her screams continued to hammer out the same indiscernible message that the audience, Goku's friends, and even Majunior from his rooftop perch nonsensical. The spiky haired man did his best to appease to her while gaining some information, but she seemed insistent that he should remember.

After a skyward leap, the two descended back to the ring after a few dozen exchanges of limbs against limbs. When the two tapped against the ring, they backed away, with Goku acting more composed and confused with the woman acting infuriated but hardly winded. One last plea to inquire what she meant and she let loose in a scream that Bulma could unfortunately understand.

"FINE! I'LL TELL YOU THE PROMISE YOU FORGOT! YOU PROMISED TO MAKE ME YOUR BRIDE! YOU PROMISED TO MARRY ME!"

It was a declaration that made Bulma's eyes bulge and her mouth open wide. Looking over at the dumbstruck Goku who only took in the information with minimum clarity, she realized that he didn't know what she meant at all. Through her own deduction, she must have talked him into saying something he had no idea what it was. This was only confirmed when Goku asked Krillin what it meant from the sidelines, making him and Yamcha fall over with the unknown fighter on their sides with comedic exaggeration.

When properly understanding what it meant, Goku turned to look confused and quite scared at the angry lady crouching apart from him, "M-Marry! You?! But...I have no idea who you are! How can I marry someone I don't even know?!"

"You honestly have forgotten? Man, what kind of idiot are you?!" She growled with an upraised fist. Inhaling deeply, she exhaled as she refocused her gaze upon him, raising a outstretched palm of beckoning towards the young martial artist. "Fine, if you want to know my name, just beat me. If you can, that is..."

"I see!" Goku fist palmed, a smile brightening up his face with determination. "that'll work out perfect! After all, I'd like to know who I'm marrying anyways..."

"Don't act like you can even touch me-"

"Here I go..."

"-you have yet to even land an attack-"

"...take this!"

"-on m-!"

It all happened in a span of a few seconds. Goku pulled back an arm, gathering an invisible field of Ki within the center of his right set of knuckles. Then, with a quick jab too fast for even Bulma to see, a wave of force rippled the arena like a rocket propelled softball. It struck dead center in the still talking woman, crashing into her jaw like a wind-propelled punch.

She soared across the arena weightlessly, completely taken off guard by the attack. When her head and back smashed into the brick wall in the out of bounds area, meters away from the edge of the ring, many of the audience members scrambled back out of fright. Coincidentally, the woman had landed only a stone toss away from Bulma and the other friends and acquaintances of hers.

The announcer, too stunned by what he had witnessed, could only stand in awe of the feat Goku had pulled off. The said fighter quickly sprinted across the ring, a look of worry crossing his youthful and naively expressive features. Crouching down at the edge, he saw her stir after a few seconds, groaning as she rose to her haunches to clench at her aching head.

Seeing that she was starting to recover properly, Goku sighed before apologizing officially, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to knock you out. That technique was only meant to send someone off the ring. I hope you're not in too much pain."

"Incredible!" She praised, rubbing her head with no sign of damage that she or the Turtle Schooler could see. Climbing up to the ring's surface like nothing happened, she smiled approvingly at Goku as she continued complimenting, "I was took by complete surprise. You're even more amazing than I remember!"

"Yeah well," Goku shrugged, taking the compliment in stride. Raising a hand to scratch his chin, he looked dubiously at her as he queried once more, "now can you tell me your name?"

"You seriously forgot? Geez," She brushing her bangs with a swing of her arm, she cast an indignant glare at him. Crossing her arms over her chest, she huffed, relenting with her answer, "I'm the Ox-King's daughter, Chi-Chi."

"EEEEEEEEE?!" Goku recoiled with a squeaking yelp of surprise, eyes bulging and mouth pulled back to show a look of remembrance of the name. Seconds after putting two and two together, Goku inquired with a look of incredulity, "wait...you're that Chi-Chi?!"

The Princess nodded with a solemn expression, a bit more patient now that the truth was revealed. The regal, decent apparel seemed vastly different than the wild attire she used to sport as a child. It seemed unreal to the older yet still innocent mind of Goku that she could change so radically in appearance, let alone adopt a very aggressive tone towards him.

"_Wait, Son proposed to the Ox-King's daughter?_" Bulma thought with a shake of her head, her mind reeling with the implications of this revelation. Slapping her own cheeks, she refocused on the vital conversation at hand. She knew there had to be something more to it than what this Chi-Chi is letting on.

"AH! I remember!" Goku said out loud, the audience's idle chatter becoming unusually hushed in the wake of this melodramatic spectacle. "I remember, when we were kids, I'd love to have a bride!"

"I know, I was there," Chi-Chi said sternly, her unwavering glare kept on Goku's reeling stare.

After a few more seconds, Goku sighed and bowed his head meekly. His pouted lips murmured out only loud enough for her to hear, "But...you don't understand. I thought when you meant would I like to have a Bride, I thought you meant it was a kind of food," looking up, his brows matted with sweat as he smiled up at the sky nervously, "I had no idea what it meant, honestly."

"S-S-Something to e-e-eat?!" She stuttered out, her disposition becoming completely frazzled.

"Really, Son?!" Bulma exclaimed, her eyes nearly bulging out of her sockets. Seeing her friend weakly shrug when his eyes sadly met hers made her recoil. When she turned to see the young friend of Goku's return to the present, she realized just what kind of predicament he was in.

"Then...the promise you made...was a mistake?" The young princess asked with big eyes, watering up with the implication of Goku's interpretation of a bride.

"Yeah, sorry," Goku said with a apologetic smile. Seeing tears well up in her eyes, he scratched the back of his head, trying to think of a way to reconcile, "I really like you, Chi-Chi, but I never thought about marrying you. I don't even know what it means to have a bride. Maybe some day, when I thought it over, I can decide who I'd want to marry but not now. Does that make any sense?"

"Uh-uh," She wiped her eyes, sniffling pathetically on stage.

"I...really am sorry," Goku mumbled out, bowing his head to her as she turned away to walk off the ring. His brows sweated as he watched her snap kick the wall apart, clearing her a path out of the stadium. Without even turning around she walked out of the ring and never looked back.

"_Poor Son_," Bulma thought when she turned to see the look of melancholy overlap his face. Even as the announcer comically recovered from the breakup the two had, he declared Goku the absolute winner. He had to be coaxed into moving from the spot he stared after his friend's retreat, hanging his head with confusion as he returned back to his sideline. Sighing, she looked up into the sky, finishing her thoughts as the next set of combatants were announced, "_I hope you find someone to love, tough guy. I really do_."

* * *

And so, the fated day between two rivals in the making made their way to the ring. Tension filled the air so palpable that experienced fighters could feel electricity dancing between the two opponents. It wouldn't be too long till that was taken literally, with their fight beginning with a series of dizzying bouts of leaps, dashes, and somersaults as their attacks hit their marks repeatedly.

The battle was perhaps the fiercest one Bulma and the rest of Goku's friends had ever bore witness to. People ran in fear from the reincarnated King Piccolo, having declared his return to satisfy his urge to feed on everyone's dread. This thankfully kept them from being harmed by the arena's destruction later on in the fight.

With Kami safely coughed out of the deadly Majunior, Goku fought with no holds bar against the emerald skinned enemy. Even weathered it appeared that the Turtle Schooler had an advantage over the Demon King. When the latter used his most powerful attack to topple nearly everything on the island's surface it was to his and everyone's surprise that his loathsome nemesis was still standing.

Through a bout of trickery the evil Piccolo Jr. landed a number of incapacitating blows to his target, leaving him all but immobilized. He convinced himself that victory was his when landing an explosive blast of Ki where the ground prone warrior was. But in a surprising turn of events, Goku sailed himself through the air and landed a devastating headbutt, beating his enemy into submission and unconsciousness. This would mark his official prize of becoming the World Champion of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budōkai.

During the aftermath, he showed a moment of mercy to his enemy and enabled him the medical aid that he himself had been given. While Piccolo Jr. vowed he'd get even one day, Goku openly welcomed the challenge and promised he'd only get stronger from here on out. Despite being against this decision, Kami believed Goku to possess more wisdom and prowess than he ever could. When he offered his own title to his disciple, he was immediately rejected, with the Turtle Schooler taking off into the sky on his Nimbus Cloud.

For Bulma Briefs, that was a year ago. And our tale resumes on another fateful day with an encounter of a different kind. One that would change her life forever.

* * *

**Age 757, June 5th**

It had been another long day for the daughter of the brilliant Dr. Briefs. Having spent part of the day burrowed in books about hypothetical forms of interstellar travel to different modes of attaining cleaner and more purified energy, she spent the next part of it cruising through downtown. She wanted some excitement, someone to share her experiences with or just to have a good time. What did she find instead?

Nothing, as per usual.

In her youth, she had went on grandiose adventures that few girls her age could have even dreamed partaking. From the many attempts on her life -or what she'd like to imagine as her pure desirable body- to searching for a way to save the world when not spectating at a Tournament, nothing she found was particularly satisfying her curiosity or urge to explore. Even the average man who many average young women could consider hunks were nothing but brainless and had little excitement in store beyond their fancy cars to polished smiles.

She tried making her relationship with Yamcha work, but as she soon found out, not every first try pays off. The memories were all too clear for her, finding him profiting off his talents in the business industry through offering his skills through a number of mediums. She almost busted the radio in her cabin when she heard a ridiculous song being sung by him, making her sick. It was only a matter of time that their relationship became more obligatory than desired, making her leave him one day in a screaming fit that was more than enough of a wake up call to the scar faced ex-bandit.

"_Guess that'd make him an Ex in two fields, now doesn't it_?" Bulma thought with bittersweet enjoyment, though it brought no smile to her face.

It didn't take long for her to see the quaint neighborhood that her house and headquarters of Capsule Corps had taken residence within. She was glad that they had installed a subterranean entrance that led to another part of the city on a sub level, otherwise she'd find herself lacking a parking space in her own driveway. She wondered why her father didn't install that feature sooner, though it certainly didn't bother him or her lackadaisical mother till she brought it up.

Puffing up at her bangs, she felt ground-based vehicle bounced slightly at the change in elevation before veer back to a halt. Exiting the car, she grabbed her purse and headed to the house with a huff. The sight of her blonde mother with a squinted smile greeted her, forcing a grin to her own face.

"Hiya, sweetie!" Panchy greeted with an enveloping hug.

"Hi mom," She tiredly replied as she was relinquished from the tender embrace.

"What's wrong, honey? Did you not have a good time?" Mrs. Briefs asked with a frown.

"Ugh," Bulma groaned, immediately looking cross at her mom, "the things I wish I didn't see in town to remind me why I don't have any friends."

"Well, why don't you come inside?" She inquired to her grown girl with a smile and gestured back to the house. "I'm brewing some coffee for your father as he's taking a break from his projects. You look like you could use some."

"Yeah, I do," The lavender haired woman acknowledged with a weary smile. Following her in, the two passed through the circular corridor to the kitchen where the scent of coffee was in the air. Sitting back in a chair around the table was her father, puffing one a pipe while looking through the newspaper.

Their footsteps would sound their arrival, allowing the mustached scientist to look up with a smile on his face,"Bulma, nice to see you. How was the trip in town?"

"Not as great as I imagined it'd be," Bulma answered readily, her lips drawing back into a soured pout.

Pulling stem from his lip with one hand, he lowered the paper with the other to feel more engaged with the conversation. Watching his wife leave their daughter's side, he continued from where they left off, "Nothing really that exciting downtown compared to your tour of the world, hm?"

Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and paced in front of the table. After the third turn, she stopped, looking outside of the window view of the neatly trimmed lawn outside of the kitchen. Squinting her eyes, she sighed, and murmured out, "So dull."

"Pardon?" The gray haired man asked.

Gesturing outward, with one hand while propping the back of the other on her hip, she repeated in detail, "This, out there, in this city is so dull. Nothing is that amazing downtown, none of the guys seem that thrilling, and old knots that were unfastened don't know when to stop trying to retie what's gone."

"Well," Her father leaned back, motioning with his pipe holding hand, "you could always go into further studies in my laboratory. You're already showing enough promise to surpass my intellect in a decade or so. If you really buckled down, you could show a lot of latent talent in the field of science."

"As much as I enjoyed my years in college," Bulma drawled out with a turn on her heels, fully facing her bowl-cut headed dad. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned on her left foot while her brows knitted forward into a frustrated frown, "I'd rather not be confined to a claustrophobic space working on advanced formulas that may or may not advance society further."

"My lab is quite spacious," Dr. Briefs cheekily remarked with a mustached grin.

"Not every laboratory is as luxurious as yours, dad," The young genius said with a reluctant smile, laughing with her father for a few moments. Looking down at her feet, she shuffled on the soles of her shoes with indecision. When the words came to her, her eyes remained trained on the top of her feet while she explained, "I guess...I guess I felt most alive when I went adventuring across the world. I know you and mom weren't excited about me leaving, after Tights had left not too long before that, but I don't regret a single second. The hunt for the Dragon Balls was one of the best times of my life. Every quest after that just felt more rewarding and continued to fascinate me what I learned about the world. Back here I feel like I'm a bird in a cage, desperately trying to get back out into the sky."

Placing the pipe back into his mouth, the older man took a few puffs before exhaling noisily. Grasping the paper back up, he flipped through a few pages and stretched it out before his gaze. After a few long seconds, he chose to mumble out loud, "Perhaps a year without him _can _be a bit boring."

"What?" Bulma blinked, raising her head up with a query in her bright eyes as much in her words.

"If I didn't know better, it seems one of your only friends that seemed by your side was that boy, Son Goku," He suggested, batting an eye at his wife who circled around with a piping mug in her hands. Training his gaze sideways, he kept the paper at eye level while studying his grown girl's reaction. "you two seemed pretty close, even back then. I think most of the enjoyment you had back then came with the fact you met a strange yet very nice young man. Someone like that is rare to find in this world, even among a host of other acquaintances. I'd daresay he may be even be the kind of friend who would love to go adventuring with you if you only asked."

"Yes, that Goku was such a nice boy," Panchy agreed with a smile, handing the mug over to Bulma, watching her contemplate what was said to her. Giggling, the blonde woman clasped her hands to the side and leaned against it with a single cheek. "he was quite the energetic scamp. Had quite a healthy appetite too. Goodness, if he ever came out of the blue here he'd clean me out of all the pantries!"

"I highly doubt that'd be a problem," Dr. Briefs said with a chuckle as he looked at an article regarding the weather. As his eyes barely traced over it before looking at another collection of words, he mentioned offhandedly, "I've practically seen all of Bulma's friends in the news to some extent. But not once in a year since the Tournament have I laid eyes on him. Funny, I didn't picture the lad as a reclusive sort."

"Where do you think he could be?" Mrs. Briefs asked with a turn of the head, unaware of Bulma's chugging of the warm dark liquid.

"If he's not out gallivanting around the world making headliners in The Royal News, then I'd say he just went back to the mountains," Dr. Briefs stated with a shrug, looking at an article with an infamous blonde sporting a pair of ridiculously large guns. "but who can tell with all the fantastic things that have happened in the last few years?"

A loud exhale following the finishing of a cup of coffee, Bulma swiftly handed the mug back to her mother before walking quickly away. Before leaving the kitchen entirely, she looked over her shoulder and smiled excitedly as she shouted, "I've decided I want to get some fresh air for a few days. Just thought to let you know before I've headed out."

"Oh!" Panchy squeaked with wide blue eyes blinking with surprise. She had just gotten back and now she was leaving? She looked on enquiringly as her back shrunk with her exit around the corridor hall. When she disappeared, she looked over with a confused smile on her face, "that's peculiar. What do you suppose has come over her?"

Smiling with a glint of knowing in his eyes, Dr. Briefs puffed another cloud of smoke from his lips over the paper. Turning his gaze at his beloved, he made sure to grin reassuringly up at her, "She just needs to get out of the cage of society for a bit, honey. Don't worry about her. If our big girl was able to handle herself all those years ago, I'm sure she can handle another trip."

* * *

It didn't take too long for her to get everything she wanted. Various supplies meant for camping or long treks as she had years before were properly capsuled. Placed within the interior pockets of her purple high collared, unbuttoned Capsule Corps jacket, it made it easy to just pick and choose what she wanted to wear. A sleeveless grey tank top wrapped over a black sports bra was complemented by a pair of dark blue shorts that only covered the top of her thighs. Her cyan and white shoes were the best pair she could find on short notice, finishing her dress attire for the trip.

Taking the more off-road hover car for the quest she had in mind, she set her sights on Mount Paozu. So many years had passed since she had climbed that mountain, both figuratively and literally. She was a naive young child who only had a small assortment of tools to get a seemingly impossible task done when she went into the vast wilderness. It boggled her mind how things turned out the way they did, instead of the way she planned.

Her mind reeled with nostalgia as the sights of suburban houses and tall skyscrapers were replaced with woodland landscape to rolling hills. Hours passed as she drove further into the vicinity she had mapped out where she met the boy, long ago. Making extra sure not to hit a stray rock or a tree, the man-made trail placed in the mountain was hardly the best to drive uphill but she had little choice.

It wasn't until she thought she missed her goal that a passing deer raced by her car, missing the fender by inches. What she didn't miss was a blurring figure of orange and black, causing her head to nearly ram into the steering wheel as her whole body lurched forward with the car. The audible crack of metal meeting body caused her breath to hitch and her eyes to widen.

Unbuckling quickly, she stepped out of her vehicle in a mad scramble to see what she just struck. When she caught sight of a grown man on his haunches, laughing sheepishly, she couldn't help but gape then glare angrily.

"What the Hell is wrong with you, Son?!" She shouted, raising a hand up to shake at him while using the other to steady her racing heart. "I thought I killed something!"

"Hahaha! Sorry," Goku apologized lightheartedly as he stood upright, dusting himself off from hitting the ground. Pointing forward then to the dented hood of her car, he explained readily, "I was just racing this deer I found in the woods. I didn't figure anyone would drive up here so I was sticking lower to the ground in order to catch up. I guess I should have payed closer attention, huh?"

"Damn straight!" Bulma yelled again, but found her anger quickly dissipating. Had this been absolutely anyone else, a car crash would probably have killed them, or at least left them with some very nasty scars. Only Goku could walk such a thing off, and rather than be angry, she found herself laughing weakly in exasperation. Wiping a small, laughter-induced tear from her eye, she walked over to Goku, smiling. "Long time no see, eh, Goku?"

"Yeah, it's been what, a year?" Goku couldn't help but smile back at his old friend. Rather than be angry that he'd been hit by her car, he found it amusing; refreshing, even, given how they'd met like this for the first time several years ago.

"It's only been a year, but already you seem so...different," Bulma mused, walking over to Goku, her sapphire irises giving the spiky, ebony-tressed man a once-over. "Still training, I bet. Then again, you've never stopped."

"You know me. I always manage to squeeze some training in when I've got the time," Goku sheepishly chuckled. After a few moments of him looking to her, to the ruined vehicle, and down to the ground, his gaze slowly returned back to Bulma as he shuffled his feet apprehensively, "So, since you went through the trouble of coming up here...and I sort of ruined your car...why don't you come up to my place for a bit? We haven't seen each other in awhile, and I can give you something to eat."

Bulma cast a glance at her car; the entire front of the vehicle was totaled, bent inwards as if she'd collided with a tree instead of a human. Walking towards the mangled vehicle, she moved her hands along the sides until she found a button; pressing it, the vehicle reverted, with a loud _POP!, _to a Hoi-Poi capsule. Turning back around with the collapsed vehicle in hand, she nodded with sheepish agreement, though suppressed a smile for the thoughts that followed, "_My car may be...ruined...but it is one of several, and this might be just the excuse I need to stay here a little longer!_"

The strange duo proceeded to walk down the forested path that led towards the upper half of Mt. Paozu. Civilization was the furthest thing from this remote wilderness, but this had always been Goku's preference. Even after having garnered some social skills and intelligence during his training with Kami and Mr. Popo, Goku had to admit, he liked a hermit kind of life much better than that of the bustling city.

"Doesn't this bring back memories, Son?" Bulma inquired, smiling brightly. "Remember, back when we first met? It even started out like this, didn't it?"

"Life is a bit weird like that, isn't it?" Goku chuckled, though to be honest, he appreciate the nostalgia this little trek through the woods was giving him. But, despite the similarities, there were a few differences. Now, Goku was more than willing to welcome Bulma to come back with him, while he did it as a child out of obligation, and Bulma was walking alongside Goku now, acting like the friend she was, rather than keeping pace with him from behind, as if avoiding him.

They reached a small clearing, and Bulma recognized the building almost at once. Standing in front of her was a small, red-brick hut, with a pointed, blue-tile roof that could only have been the hut Goku used to live in with his grandfather.

"_So he actually did return to it after the tournament?" _Bulma smiled. This wouldn't be impressive for anyone else, but given Goku had won the Tenkaichi Budōkai just a year ago, he'd won all of the money that went along with it. "_I bet you haven't even used a single Zeni of that, did you?_" Then Bulma had to wonder if Goku actually knew _how_ money worked to begin with. Figuring that he didn't, she came to the conclusion that his modest lifestyle was more due to ignorance than anything noble, but it didn't wipe the smile off her face.

"Well, here we are; home sweet home!" Goku pushed open the painted wooden doors, entering the small hut. Bulma followed, and noted it was more or less the same as it was when she first met Goku. The entire hut was still dimly lit, with only modest furnishings; Goku had made minor changes to the furniture after his return to the building, switching out the dresser for a larger one, and there even seemed to be a chair, a slightly longer bed, but this was the limit of Goku's feng shui.

Even in the dimly lit gloom of the hut, Bulma saw a familiar gleam that caught her eye — after all, it was a gleam that she and Goku had dedicated time of their lives to find. Walking over to the dresser, she gently picked up the source of the glowing light. "Isn't this..." (she quickly analyzed the number of stars floating within the orb) "...Sushinchū? You actually went back out and found your grandfather's heirloom ball?"

"Oh you better believe it." Goku exclaimed with a smile as he sat down on a chair near the window for a moment, resting his back from colliding with Bulma's car. While it didn't hurt, there was a sharp sting to remind him that the metal monstrosities her family creates still packed a punch. "Took me about three months to properly find it, even with the Radar," He gestured to the pocket watch-like device sitting next to it, the greatest invention Bulma had ever created. The Dragon Radar was a mechanical device that tracked the faint, electromagnetic pulse given off by the Dragon Balls, and gave the owner its precise location.

"I actually found Ūshinchū and Chiishinchū while trying to find that one," Goku explained, opening the dresser where the five and six star Dragon Balls were so casually discarded. "I would have just left them, but I figured who better to keep track of them than me? So, I keep them in the drawer."

"Hunting for the Dragon Balls...that definitely takes me back..." Bulma gently placed the Sushinchū back onto its purple velvet cushion, knowing how much the Four-Star Dragon Ball meant to Goku. To anyone else, it could be the gateway to immortality, riches (or as Bulma had hoped when she was a teenager, the perfect boyfriend) but to Goku, it was part of something much bigger. He considered his grandfather's soul to reside in that sphere, and even after having met his grandfather's soul during a tournament, he still kept the sphere for sentimentality.

Looking around the dimly lit, one-room hut, Bulma figured some renovations were in order. "You know, Son, I could lend you a hand in fixing this place up? I know you're comfortable with a moderate lifestyle, but you haven't done much in rearranging a hut. I think a woman's touch could help you brighten this place up."

"I can't make you do that!" Goku refused, waving it off. "You're my friend, and a guest, Bulma, I won't have you clean my house. Besides, it's nothing I can't handle when I get around to it." 'If' was the more likely word, but Goku had enough manners not to take advantage of his friends, no matter how generous the offer was.

"Then how about this?" Bulma was determined to help Goku in some way, whether he actually wanted the assistance or not. Persistence was, after all, her forte. "You invited me up here to eat, but you hardly seem to have any cooking skills — trust me, Son, a fox and centipede over an open fire don't qualify you as a culinary master — so why don't I lend you a hand with the cooking? I can show you the ropes."

Before Goku could so much as refuse this offer as well, his stomach spoke for him and gave its answer in the form of a large, squelching growl. Goku and Bulma were briefly stunned into silence before they doubled over laughing.

"I think your stomach agrees to my proposal!" The lavender-tressed girl decided, wiping away a laughter-induced tear. "So, what'll we be eating?" While she certainly had supplies for camping packed with her, it was _Goku _who promised her food, and she'd gotten less prissy when it came to the matters of eating in the wild. Because of that, Bulma would happily take him up on the offer.

Goku grinned. The proposal to go find a good meal always got him excited.

* * *

"Normal people use a rod and line!" Bulma shouted down the cliff-side at the top of her lungs. Just moments ago, she'd asked Goku what they'd be eating, and given she let his deer escape when she collided with him while driving, they had to opt for a different meal. True to form, Goku suggested fish, and Bulma had agreed wholeheartedly...up until he lead her to a cliff-side, proceed to strip down to boxer shorts, and took a swan dive off the side.

"Honestly!" She said huffily, her icy-blue eyes glaring down heatedly at the disturbed surface of the water, which Goku had cleanly broken through only moments before. "Although I guess I don't know what I was expecting..." Fuming silently, Bulma sat down, perched on the cliff side, as she waited for Goku to make it back up.

"Woohoo!"

It didn't take as long as Bulma expected for Goku to make it back up the cliff. There was a sploshing sound as Goku broke the surface of the river, landing neatly onto the cliff, holding a giant, squirming fish above his head, chuckling in a very pleased manner. The water dripping down Goku's body drew Bulma's attention to his toned, muscular figure, and she couldn't help but blush a very deep crimson, shiftily averting her gaze, only to sneak glances back towards Goku again.

"That's a huge fish," She muttered lamely, unable to properly say an actual sentence in reaction.

"This one was a fighter!" Goku grinned, missing Bulma's rather dense comment entirely, thinking she was proud of his catch. Holding the squirming fish triumphantly over his spiky head, he laughed as his catch began to slowly stop squirming as it tired itself out. "Whaddya think, Bulma? This'll make for a good meal, won't it?"

"Y-yeah, it will," Bulma replied shakily, frantically trying to pick Goku's clothes up and toss them at him. They didn't budge. The gears turned in Bulma's head, clicking and turning as she remembered precisely why she couldn't lift the garments off the rocky ground; they were weighted clothing. Whatever material Kami had made Goku's _gi_ from, it wasn't something Bulma would be moving even a centimeter off the ground. "What are these made of!?"

Seeing Bulma needed assistance, Goku dropped the fish — it feebly flopped again, as if still trying to make it back to the river — and knelt down to pick up the _gi_ himself. Without bothering to think about controlling his strength, Goku lifted his clothes towards himself as if they were made of cotton. In doing so, however, Goku pulled slightly too hard. Rather than taking the clothes out of Bulma's grip as he intended, Goku had pulled Bulma directly into his broad chest.

"S-S-Son!" Bulma spluttered, her face deepening in crimson further, to the point that she resembled a very ripe tomato with a lavender-hued wig. Such proximity was highly mortifying; her arms and face were pressed into his torso, and Bulma could feel his warmth. She pushed herself away quickly, fidgeting, causing Goku to flash her a confused look.

"Bulma, something wrong?" He asked, clutching his _gi_ and looking quite perturbed.

"Nothing, it's nothing" She replied hastily. "Just put on your clothes and we'll head back!"

* * *

Standing directly outside Grandpa Gohan's brick hut, Bulma was rolling up her sleeves as Goku dropped the fish onto the soft grass. Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out a thick, white and yellow case. Opening it up revealed multiple Hoi-Poi Capsules of differing numeric designations; each one of them was a capsulized camping supply. "_Its not like I intended to rough it, looking for Son, but a girl can never be unprepared!_"

"How're we gonna do this, Bulma?" Goku asked, looking rather curiously into her box of Hoi-Poi Capsules. He'd seen them multiple times before, but they'd always astounded him how city folk managed to fit things like cars and houses into such small containers. "Are you going to bring cooking material out of those magic things?"

"Son, it's been years, and you still can't call them by their proper name?" Bulma pulled out Capsule #4 with a touch of irritation in her voice. "They're _Hoi-Poi Capsules_. You could at least call them by their nickname, 'DynoCaps' if you can't pronounce the actual name." Perhaps it was her pride as the daughter of the inventor of Capsules that caused a slight edge to spark whenever Goku called her father's invention 'magic'.

Casually, she tossed the Hoi-Poi Capsule towards the ground. With a loud _POP!_ that sounded more akin to 'POI', an elaborate spread of cookware appeared, laid out on a plaid cloth. Inspecting it, Goku found things he recognized; flatware, pots, pans, and things he didn't. but they still resembled how he cooked things, if he had to draw any quick comparisons.

"Those are propping tools and an adjustable spit," Bulma explained, reading the bewildered look on Goku's face. "I could hardly bring a stove out here, even if my Dad is working on one you can use out in the wilderness. I don't like being the one to test the prototypes. So we'll be combining my flavoring methods with outdoor cooking."

Goku eagerly accepted the offer; perhaps learning to cook wouldn't be so difficult, if it was going to use the methods he already knew. As Goku busied himself with setting the campfire, Bulma concentrated on the monster of a fish in front of her. While she hadn't done anything this grisly in awhile, her work in her dad's laboratory or various medical classes she took in college prepared her for this. Taking a sharp knife she began cutting away the scales, meticulous in shearing away the hardened exterior of the behemoth catch of Goku's.

After a handful of minutes passed when she felt content she scraped away the scales, she used another knife to cut off the various fins aligned on the fish's body to make the gutting process easier. After nearly six fins were piled next to her feet, she grabbed one gill and began gouging out the various parts buried within. Once finished doing the other side, she took an especially sharp knife and sawed open its underbelly, burying her hand into its gut to pull out the loose innards lying against the bone. By the time she finished removing the essentials, she sighed with relief, eagerly reaching for a towel she kept to clean herself of the grime and ichor of the whole process.

"_I wish everyone could have seen that, because I am _not _doing that again._" Bulma thought to herself, the smell of fish guts still lingering on her arms and hands. Casting aside the towel, she went to go check on Goku, and saw he'd completed his task already and had simply been watching her own progress. Next to Goku was a large fire proportioned in size to be able to sufficiently cook such a large fish — crackling in the middle of a circle of stones.

"You did pretty good there!" Goku grinned, despite Bulma's glowering stare.

"...Oh just come on," Bulma had no words to express any irritation, or perhaps she couldn't. Goku's simple attitude was part of his charm, and he might have just thought she was doing well enough on her own that watching was all he needed to do. "Here, you're the only one that can lift this behemoth, so I'll leave hoisting it onto the spit and over the fire up to you."

"Heh heh..." Chuckling at Bulma's indignation, Goku did as she requested, running the fish through with the adjustable spit as Bulma set up the props. After instructing Goku to meticulously turn the fish every few minutes to ensure even cooking on all sides, she collapsed next to the fire, placing her hands over it. It wasn't truly cold, but the action gave her something to do.

"Son, how do you manage this every day?" Bulma asked, a tired tone to her voice. Despite being a girl who worked with machinery for a hobby, dealing with outdoor cooking truly seemed to tire her out. "I can already feel my back aching from just gutting that monster."

A cheerful laugh escaped Goku's throat as he looked over at Bulma. "If you think this is something, try bear! You tend to get used to this, though. Grandpa used to do the cooking before he died; after that, I had to learn, so I'm used to it now."

"Oh..." Bulma trailed off meekly. "I didn't mean to bring up something like that..."

Waving her off with a smile, Goku shook his head. "No, don't apologize. Grandpa died when I was still a kid. I didn't really know what to think at the time. And I've seen him since then; he's doing pretty well — despite being, well, dead." The crackling of the fire filled their silence, before Goku spoke up again. "Y'know...it was a good thing I met you, Bulma."

At this, Bulma's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the more I think about it, the more I see how little I knew of the world as a kid," Goku explained, turning the fish as he did. "Because I got to meet you, I was able to have so many new experiences. I got to meet new teachers, new friends, and I was able to see the world. That's something Grandpa wanted for me for the longest time; at least, I think so."

"_When did Son get so expressive?_" Bulma was slightly slack-jawed at Goku's display of gratitude. He was far from rude, but he had always been simple. Words like those never usually left his mouth, but at the same time, they formed a smile on her face. "You could say the same about me, though. Going on that journey with you changed me forever. I started out as a prissy little girl who couldn't bear to be without the comforts of house and home for five seconds. I'd say I even had a selfish, arrogant streak, if only a little. Shove it!" (Goku had just raised a finger as if to make an objection.) "Now, look at me. I made it all the way to the mountains just to find you, and I'm fresh from gutting a fish."

Both Goku and Bulma started to laugh once they realized something they hadn't both noticed before; they were of mutual benefit to each other. Being around one another seemed to improve them in various ways they never noticed until it was brought up. Lost in their own little world, it was only when the smell of fish had truly filled the air that they aid attention to anything else.

On Bulma's direction, Goku removed the fish from the fire. Placing the mouth-water fish out on a cloth, Bulma cracked her knuckles. "Now's the time to do it differently than you would have done, Goku." Using a few utensils from her Capsules, Bulma and Goku began to work at removing the meat from the body, which was new to Goku, as he would have simply eaten the fish as it was. When savory slabs were lain out, Bulma grabbed a few sets of spices from another set of Capsules; Hickory, Chili, and Honey glaze, and lectured Goku in how to properly flavor the meat with them.

* * *

It didn't take long for them to dig into the smorgasbord that was the cooked Paozu tuna. While Bulma was satisfied with sampling a few different flavored slices of the aquatic meat, Goku took hearty helpings all for himself. She just hoped that it was a substantial amount of food for the man, as she was the one to bear witness of how hungry an eater he was when he was a kid; he had ate out the entirety of tournament's kitchens with ease, being compared to an army of one with how much his belly could hold.

But the spiky haired man did anything but complain. He thanked Bulma fervently at the delicious taste added to the dinner they shared, glad he could have it with good company. She too missed the opportunity of spending time with friends outside of her dad's coworkers within Capsule Corp. Even the slight chill the crisp mountain air and the natural descent into darkness the mountainside had was enough to tickle her nostalgia, making the trip all the more worth the effort of traveling here.

Sensing the light's diminishing rays peeking through the wooded horizon, Goku stood up after politely piling the dish he used next to the rest of the cooking utensils. Inhaling deeply, he rubbed his stomach with happiness, chuckling happily as he looked at his friend finish her helping's last crumbs, "Boy, Bulma! I've had a lot of fish over the years but that tasted incredible! You really should show me more how to cook like this; that way, I can always feel this great after an awesome meal!"

"If I should thank Kami for anything it's that you've become an excellent flatterer," Bulma said with a bemusing grin, placing her plate over Goku's as she rose to full height to look at her friend's eyes. Taking a glance at the orange rays bleeding through the woodland expanse, she knew that it was only a matter of time before night fully befell their midst. Reaching into her jacket, she fumbled for the right capsule as she said with resignation, "well, I'll take that offer up tomorrow and maybe we can try some other wilderness gourmet to be given the ol' Bulma touch. Just let me get out my sleeping bag and tent so I can be ready for that-"

"Actually," Goku responded readily, waving a free arm at the hut with a smile, "I think you can always sleep in my bed. It's spacious enough that I think you could be comfortable. And it beats sleeping under a tent, right?"

Bulma's face, for the second time in a single day, went a stark red beneath the head of purple hued hair. The implications of what Goku offered so casually struck a chord of embarrassment she had rarely had since she was much younger. Hands reached up to cover her face, her head shaking back and forth, causing a look of dubious confusion to cross her childhood companion's eyes, "I-I-I can't i-i-impose like that, S-S-Son! I-I-I mean...t-t-think about how...I-I-I mean...wouldn't it be c-c-cramped s-s-sleeping in the s-s-same b-b-bed?!"

"What? That's silly for you to say," Goku laughed it off, finding it funny how his friend acted so flustered at the idea of sharing the same bed. He was worried he might squash her or push her off the cot, knowing how he often was a bit of a restless sleeper. Let alone what he had been taught by Kami, it wouldn't be a very polite thing to do to a young lady. "I was going to use the spare futon I got to sleep on the floor. I don't mind, really. I just wanted you to have a comfy bed for a night, is all."

"Oh," Bulma mouthed, her fuming head defusing after a simple explanation from a simple minded man. She glared into her palms for a few seconds, a little angry at herself for assuming that such a thing would happen between them. She wondered whenever her helpless romantic side would learn to grow up. Pulling her hands down, she composed herself enough to smile appreciatively at Goku, causing him to smile back with relief.

As soon as their conversation was over, night had descended upon the forest of Mount Paozu. A hail of crickets and crescendo of other nocturnal sounds began to swell in the backdrop while the pair entered the hut. True enough to the Turtle Schooler's word, he had stashed a rolled up futon that almost doubled as a sleeping bag with how compact it was stashed within the large cabinet holding his clothes. As he unrolled it, Bulma took the opportunity to quickly unpack a capsuled batch of clothes she stashed away for changing. Despite being comfortable that Goku didn't possess a leering bone in his body, she still felt apprehensive of catching his gaze as her matured body was briefly unclothed for the moments she got into a Capsule Corp logo'd pair of pajamas.

By the time she was finished dressing up, Goku turned on his heel and smiled pleased at Bulma. For a moment, it looked like something in his eyes told her he wanted to say something, but it didn't take long for him to discourage the thought. Shaking his head, he almost whispered, "Good night, Bulma," as he laid onto his unfolded sleeping mattress.

"Good night, Son," She breathed out quietly, as she tentatively got into her friend's bed. The surprisingly clean quilt was quite comfortable, and she suspected that it was replaced to fit his larger frame; it practically smothered her as she pulled it over herself. Placing her head against the simple packed pillow, she squirmed as she tried to find a perfect posture for resting. When she settled on a spot, she found herself staring at Goku, back facing her while his body rose and fell gently with every deep breath.

"_He looks so calm, you wouldn't think he's as energetic as the kid I once met,_" Bulma thought with a soft smile, admiring how quiet his breathing was in comparison to the rest of the night's inhabitants. She couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking at that moment that he didn't bring himself to say, but she guessed it was something he'd bring up sooner or later. Content with asking about it tomorrow, her bright blue eyes slowly closed as she attempted to attain some sleep after a considerably long day.

* * *

**Author Notes:  
****LastationLover:**_And it's done! This is the first installment of a new series I'll be working on with fellow author, Demodu20! This one centers around Goku and Bulma hooking up, as opposed to Goku and Chi-Chi, and it will retell Dragon Ball Z up to the end of the Freeza Saga (with more coming if Demod and I decide to go beyond that Saga). I've long since disagreed with Goku and Chi-Chi. I don't see Chi-Chi as a proper wife or even a proper mother. Don't think I'm character bashing, but I don't actually see her as loving Goku or Gohan. Goku's 'marriage' to Chi-Chi always felt hollow; as if she used Goku for sex, security, and the provision of a child, and nothing more. And even Gohan seemed to be more a project she wanted to tinker with, not a son she wanted to love. So I want to take the story in a different direction, and Demod agreed. But since we're both busy people, writing our own series, we came up with a wild idea._

_Two heads are better than one, right? And yet, two is nice but three is better, no? So we brought in our friend, Firegod00, as editor-in-chief. Demod __and I write a half of the chapter each (and in the case of being unable to finish, we'll pass it off one another) and thus, that way, it frees the other up to continue writing their own projects unimpeded, while Fire will handle all of the proofreading, a job __Demod__ himself usually handles on my works. This is the first time I've done a project like this, and I hope it succeeds!_

_I also want to ensure everyone that reads the Erased Chronicles that this story won't interfere with it. Demod __and I have settled on a "one-every-two-months" update for this story, so I can focus on my main projects as well._

_As always, I have a few language related things to explain. The terms I use for the Dragon Balls are the terms provided by the localized English manga. Ūshinchū, Chiishinchū, and Sushinchū are all straight from the manga, and refer to the Five, Six, and Four-Star Balls respectively. I believe they're Chinese, but I'd rather not state it with such self-assurance I put my foot in my mouth._

_Also, I'd like to extend a thanks to the DeviantArt user karoine for being a small part of this project as well, providing the story's cover art; a very generous accepting of my request. Her Deviant Home Page is located here; please check out her work and once again, thank you for the provision!_

**Demod20:**_ Hello everybody! This is probably the first time I get to share my thoughts on another profile other than my own. Huge honor being able to be part of this project so I just want to take some time to thank my friend Lastation. If he wasn't taking part in this project, I wouldn't have been so enthusiastic for it.  
_  
_Bulma, to me, has always been a very important part to the series Dragon Ball and its successor, DBZ. She provided a very human and relatable experience for us during her and Goku's adventures throughout both series. While her role sadly diminished in DBZ, I'd like to think if it wasn't for her, Goku wouldn't be a hero not just for Earth but for the whole Galaxy. They make the best pair and duo of either series, and this story is cemented proof that both myself and two others believe the same.  
_  
_The things we have planned will definitely go beyond simply changing the romantic coupling. I won't spoil anything in case people want to be surprised, but I will say you'll be in for one wild surprise after another. When we're done, your perspective of DBZ will be changed (hopefully) in a radical and drastic way that will leave you in awe._  
_And until the next update, I'll see you all next time after we've written another amazing Chapter!_


	2. Our Dream Beyond The Stars

**Dragon Ball - The Heart of Adventurers**

**By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, Edited by Firegod00**

**Chapter 2 - Our Dream Beyond The Stars**

* * *

Bulma turned side to side, her eyes squinting and brows caked in cold sweat. Her mind's eye told of a dream that quickly spiraled into a nightmare. It started off with her memories of Goku and her, along with Oolong, P'uar and Yamcha on their way to Pilaf's fortress. They were intending on reclaiming the Dragon Balls he held captive and be one step closer to collecting them all.

A few details were off, though.

For starters, Goku wasn't a child but was a full grown man, ridiculously buff muscles stretching through the confines of his gi and wielding his Power Pole as if it was a support column for a massive structure. P'uar was a tiger, with Yamcha riding him bareback while wearing even less clothes than Goku with his sword drawn and his hair done in a blonde tint bowl cut. Whatever reason it may have been, Oolong remained the same as he was, which made the dream even stranger.

By the time she witnessed Goku wiping out a legion of robots while Yamcha bested monstrous sized rats, they finally reached the interior of the fortress. Just as they were about to make off with the Balls, much to a same-ol' Pilaf and the gang's chagrin, a pool of lunar light stretched into the throne room. When Goku's eyes met it his whole body shook, expanding in height and mass at an indefinite rate. She barely was taken out by Yamcha with the rest until the whole castle was shattered just by the giant monkey that had replaced the valiant Goku. Stomping after them, they tried to escape a giant hand, reaching out to grab them. Grab her. Crush her. _Kill her._

Bulma woke up with a gasp, her whole body heaving with effort as sweat poured down her face. Using her sleeve to wipe off the excess excretions, she turned over to the side of the bed, looking down to the floor. Regaining her breath, she found herself staring at an empty mat, with no sleeping Goku to be found.

"_Strange, I knew he was snoring as loud as a train a moment ago. Where the Hell is he?_" She pondered with a huff, slipping into some fuzzy slippers as she stood erect. As there wasn't any place to truly hide in the meager spaced hut, she knew there was only two possible areas he could be. She chose the first instead of the latter, knowing Goku's attachment to the old quarters of his adopted grandfather.

Peeking her head out of the window, she turned her gaze around and up. There she caught the sight of Goku's feet idly kicking in the air. Her frown melted into a satisfied smile, glad to have been right on the money.

Shuffling quietly out of the home through the front door, she saw that he was laying atop it. Was he sleeping? It couldn't be that, otherwise she would have heard him through the crude roofing of the hut. Squinting her eyes with determination, she lunged straight for the window opening for a foothold and reached up to grab the roof's edge. Her efforts met with failure, as her grip slipped, causing her to flail back with a yelp before crashing to the ground with a thud.

"Ow," She groaned, rising up from the grass to rub her head with pained frustration.

"Hey, Bulma," Goku called out, catching her eyes as he sat up to look down at her.

Sighing, she stood up to place her hands on her hips, arching a brow incredulously as she asked, "What are you doing up there, Son? A bed mat too comfortable for you?"

"Hahaha, nah, I'm just watching the stars," He shook his head, pointing up at the beautiful night sky glimmering over Mount Paozu.

Looking up, she was taken aback just how amazing the view was. She was too used to the city lights to see the majestic vista of the skyward canvas of constellations and falling comets. Shaking her head out of her reverie, she turned to point at the hut as she met Goku's innocent stare with a demanding one.

"Son, come inside and get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," She ordered in an almost motherly way.

"Awwww, but I'm not tired," Goku whined, almost childishly as his lips pouted.

"Son," Bulma glared up at her childhood friend with indignation.

"Why don't you come up here and look up with me? It's a lot better view and I'd like the company," Goku insisted with a eager smile, patting the roof with insistence.

Hearing that made Bulma's assertive attitude crumble. Looking back at the house then up at the smiling Son, she knew it was either going back to sleep and entering another bout of crazy dreams. Or she could stay up for a little bit and enjoy the scenery with him.

Sighing, she shook her head with a smile meeting Goku's eyes with a childish twinkle of her own, "Okay, I'm in. Just give me a second."

"You sure you don't need help? You're not the most graceful person I know, after all," Goku pointed out candidly after his query.

"I can make it on my own, thank you very much!" She shouted, ditching her slippers so her soles could feel the cold dew soaked ground. Breaking off into another run, her feet found better purchase and her hands' grip on the roof's edge was a bit more firm. Grunting she began lifting herself up, her midriff bending over the surface. It wasn't until her hands felt some tiles pull loose did she start to yip in panic.

Just as her hands struggled to reach for anything to grab hold of, a familiar red pole shot into view. Clapping her digits over her crown, she grasped the object, causing her whole body to bounce but not fall back to the cold ground below. Slowly the pole retracted hauling her up and over the roofing to the upraised steeple Goku was leaning against. Letting go of the pole, she leaned against the tiles as she meekly smiled and averted his gaze with a blush.

"Thanks," She mumbled.

"You're welcome," Goku said simply, not wanting to tease his friend any longer. After placing his pole beside him, he looked up with his hands providing a cushion for his head, he stared up at the incredible view of the stars. Joining him in his stargazing was finally Bulma whose eyes were wide and blinking with awe.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" The aspiring Martial Artist asked with a softer voice.

"More like amazing," Bulma breathed out, her blue eyes reflecting the glittering canopy above. "I often forget what a view like this is living in the city. I wish I could see this all the time."

"Makes you want to go up and see where those lights come from, right?" Goku asked with an excited grin.

Turning her head, her eyes blinked curiously at her friend, "Why would you want to go up there? To space I mean?"

"Oh, I don't know," The Turtle Schooler said as he shrugged, answering readily afterwards with a dreamy smile, "but something in my gut feels like it's the right thing to do, you know? I mean, after I beat Piccolo there's only so many people around that can put up quite a challenge. What if there's even stronger people out there, on planets just like ours? I'd really like to see how far I could push myself facing those kinds of fighters!"

Giggling, she waved at Goku offhandedly as she looked up at the night sky again, "That sounds like you. For whatever reason if you find yourself going up there, you'd need to take me along."

"Oh? What would you do up there?" Goku asked, turning his head to look at her now with a curious set of blinks.

"Research new life forms, planetary geology, make breaking record discoveries of alien life," Bulma replied matter-of-fact, as if it was obvious. Looking over at Goku's perplexed expression, she realized some of her words were going over his head. Making an effort to sit more upright, she gestured towards him with an amused look, "basically I'd do advanced science research while you go kick ass. More or less."

"Oh, that makes sense, haha!" Goku laughed as he leaned up to scratch his head with sheepish relief.

"In fact," Bulma tapped her chin, wagging her eyebrows as she leaned closer to Goku, teasing with a grin, "I'd do my first experiment on a new alien life form, hiding in plain sight."

"Huh? Really? Who is that?" Goku cocked his head to the side, looking genuinely perplexed by this discovery.

"You," She poked his chest, her smile deepening at the aghast look on Goku's face.

"M-Me?! You think I'm an ALIEN?!" Goku asked with a recoiling visage that looked almost adorable in Bulma's eyes.

"Well, it'd make sense, wouldn't it? I've seen an Alien as a child, so it's not like they don't exist. Plus, you and Piccolo both stray from the norm of this world's native populace so it'd make sense," She explained with a smile, finding it fun to bring up facts of the past to prove her crazy theory. Waving a finger she continued as Goku looked amazed at her, "let's not forget how crazy strong you are. How you are the only human looking being who has a tail but isn't completely covered in fur. Let's also not forget how you, uh..."

"What?" Goku blinked a few times, now curious why Bulma trailed off.

With images of the horrid monster plaguing her dreams returning to the forefront of her mind, Bulma shook her head, dismissing that notion of bringing it up. Smiling again, she elbowed Goku playfully as she winked, "Don't worry, tough guy, I won't tell anyone your secret. Besides, you're not so bad for someone out of the ordinary. I downright say you're likable."

"Really?" Goku asked, tentatively smiling at hearing this news.

"Mhm," Bulma nodded, crossing her arms, boldly proclaiming, "honestly if it came down to it, there's no one I'd rather be with to the end of days than you, Son."

"Oh! In that case I feel the exact same way!" Goku answered enthusiastically, causing Bulma to meet his star-filled gaze with one of her own.

However it was this proclamation that brought a mutual note of understanding between the two. As separate lines of thought flooded their minds, both of them felt heat wash over their cheeks, their eyes suddenly turning away with embarrassment. A few coughs from Bulma followed while Goku whistled too innocently.

"We should get to bed," Bulma mumbled as she fiddled with her hair.

"R-Right," Goku nodded, sliding off the roof with Bulma clambering down after him.

Without falling on her keister, she reclaimed her moist slippers and trotted inside as Goku returned to his mattress. Before she even pulled the covers over herself she could hear his obnoxious snores. Sighing, she knew it'd be better to fall asleep to this than to revisit weirdsville that her mind concocts. Closing her eyes, she couldn't help but finding both the sound and the presence of Goku to be soothing.

Drifting away to sleep, she smiled as rest finally came to her.

* * *

The next day, Bulma and Goku set out to hike around the woods near the base of Mount Paozu. Wanting not to alarm most of the wildlife the two agreed to descend on foot making for a good bout of foot stomping into the earth. While Goku didn't seem to mind a meager jog, it felt like a workout to the city girl life she was used to.

Reaching the bottom, the two began to wander, aimlessly searching for something they could turn into gourmet cooking. Goku had suggested they just go fishing again but Bulma was insistent they try a variety of animals he's used to barbecuing without any thought to the texture or quality of the meat. Easygoing as he always seemed to be, he went along with it, eager to taste more of that delicious technique Bulma was trying to teach him.

After what was already four hours of hiking, the lavender haired woman grasped a canteen dangling from her hip, gulping noisily its contents down her throat. Sighing as she screwed it back on, she looked over at a happily humming Goku. He was busy taking in the sights of the more smaller wildlife; she swore she caught him chasing a handful of butterflies, sporting brilliant colors on their wings.

"Ugh, I didn't think we'd walk so far," She complained, eager to regain his attention.

"Aw, cheer up, Bulma! It's a beautiful day out and we have plenty of time to find another meal to cook," Goku said with a wide grin, placing his hands on his hips and jutting out his chest with emphasis.

"Easy for you to say, Son. I'm not a young girl filled with so much energy. I got a limit to my stamina unlike a certain World Martial Arts Champion I know," Bulma pointedly gestured to Goku, making him aware of his title and his unprecedented state of physical prowess.

"Haha, well, that's what happens when you train at Kami's Lookout. He put me through so much that I don't know where to begin with his methods. I swore I was going to die sometimes," He exclaimed, following a dark look entering his eyes. With a haunted tone, he looked away as a shadow hung over his head, "and don't get me started on Popo's training..."

"Well, you can tell me ALL about it when we get lunch. Besides, I doubt it was that bad," She grumbled, leaning against a large fuzzy stump she found next to the treeline.

Her eyes blinked rapidly as she processed what her skin and hair felt. Fuzzy? As in, fur covering? Looking over her shoulder, she suddenly yelped at seeing an enormous brown coated bear with golden markings painting its belly and paws. Landing on her buttocks, she saw it turn around with blood covering its snout, a freshly killed deer laying just behind it. It stood up to five meters tall, easily being the largest bear she had ever seen, making it a native of the enormous wildlife surrounding the mountain and its valley.

Seeing the crazed look in its eyes reminded her of that nightmare from last night. It reminded her all too much of the red eyed enormous simian creature Goku had transformed into. Such memories were so vivid that they practically overlapped with the present. Her breath hitched and her skin paled. She couldn't move, even as the angry bear dove towards her.

Then, a rush of wind passed over her followed by an instantly appearing Goku. Without even thinking his elbow plunged straight into the maddening animal's chest, causing a sickening snap and crunch to follow. A lifeless look colored the bear's eyes, choking for air and soon wheezing out one last breath before tipping over. Crashing atop its own gored kill, it practically shook the ground as it splayed out with a tongue hanging out its mouth.

"Whew," Goku wiped his brow, noting the close call as he just nearly missed the giant bear along their dirt path. He was so distracted by the sights that it took Bulma's scream to wake him out of his reverie. It was thanks to his training that he could move and hit faster than the bear could. Looking down, he bent over to reach down to the stunned woman, "you okay, Bulma?"

"Y-Yeah," She shook her head, she grasped his calloused palm. Pulled up to her feet, she looked down at the monstrous animal, feeling slightly sorry that she had been the cause for its anger. Then again, if it was that cranky, it deserved the hit Goku gave it. Looking over at Goku, she smiled appreciatively up at him, "thanks."

"No problem," Goku nodded back, looking down at the bear. Scratching his chin, he chuckled at the sight, "well, we can't really cook the deer he was eating but he looks big and tasty enough. Wanna try him?"

"As long as you do the work. My hands are still throbbing from the last time I had to deal with that beast of a fish," Bulma shuddered at the remembrance of such an ordeal for her petite, lab-faring hands.

"Haha! Sure thing!" Goku smiled, cracking his knuckles readily as he looked almost ravenously at the bear. "let's get this guy cookin'!"

* * *

By the time they had things set up, the bear was propped up in a proper posture over a much larger campfire. Its limbs composed of meat too tough to be entirely edible, so they were excluded from the spit that skewered the skinned and gutted animal. Even with all of its excess removed it was far too heavy for the young woman to even attempt to rotate the spit, so she left pretty much all of the work to Goku.

After they had chosen all of the spices, sauces and other accessories to add to their gourmet cooked lunch, the fire was started and the bear started to turn. After watching in awe at such a massive animal rotating in a circle, the two entered a silence, with only the sounds of the outdoors and the crackling embers filling in the gap. When the questions arose once more, it was Bulma who broke the mute air between them.

"So I have to ask," She began, earning a eager turn of her friend, locking her eyes with his as she practically leaned in from her crouched position, "what was it like, being trained at Kami's? I can't imagine what it was like to be trained by a god."

"Training with Kami?" Goku chuckled, reminiscing about the few years he had spent training at the God of Earth's Palace. "It was probably some of the most intense training I had. You should have seen it; when I wasn't trying to keep up with Kami himself, there was this hidden Room in the palace. Inside, a whole year will pass while outside, only a day passes. However, I couldn't even take a month in that place, it was too intense! Though that's where I also got that mad growth spurt."

"So that's how you got so tall," Bulma smiled, flushing slightly. She had a thing for height in men and Goku was certainly a tall glass of water.

"He also had to teach me restraint," Goku continued, and he sounded serious this time. "Kami told me that I was too impulsive, and being so in-over-my-head could get in the way in a fight. So he had to teach me to reign my emotions in quite a bit."

"He wasn't wrong, you know," Bulma waggled a finger reprovingly at Goku. "Remember when Krillin was killed? You rushed off to find who did it without even a second thought —no plans, no back-up, and you nearly got yourself killed!"

"I-I couldn't help it," Goku remembered quite clearly how he'd run off in a blind rage to fight Tambourine when he'd found Krillin's body, cold and lifeless, on the tournament floor. It was the first time he'd ever felt anger consume him like that, enough to swallow him whole. "I'd have done the same if it was you!"

"Y-You would have!?" Bulma was taken aback by this sudden straightforwardness; she blushed a bright crimson that clashed brilliantly with her vibrant hair. While it was hardly appropriate, the thought that she mattered that much to Goku was both very flattering and yet slightly embarrassing. She hastily tried to change the subject, watching Goku idly turn the bear onto its other side to ensure even cooking.

"Without a doubt," Goku nodded innocently, and Bulma was beginning to wonder if there would be any blood left in the rest of her body, as all of it rushed to her head and cheeks.

"What about flying?" Bulma said in a desperate attempt to steer the conversation to a subject that didn't have her feeling as if she had a nest of butterflies fluttering around in her gut. It was common knowledge that Goku and even his friend Krillin could fly, but they'd only recently developed that skill. "Did you learn how to fly from Kami too?"

"Oh, that?" Goku replied, unperturbed by the change of subject. "No, actually, he never did. I just picked it up from watching Tenshinhan fight. While I was training with Kami, I implemented what I'd seen myself, and managed to actually fly on my own. Kami himself was actually shocked; he said he was going to show me at some point, but never expected me to do it through self-study!"

Even by Goku's usual standards, Bulma thought to herself that Goku learning how to entirely defy their planet's gravity and fly under his own power was a very impressive feat. And this was a man who tended to define the word 'impossible' — and then redefine it simply because it happened to be a Saturday. "Out of all the impossible things you can do, Goku, I really wish I could fly. I've ridden in a lot of hover vehicles, but flying under your own power must be an entirely new experience."

"There are other ways to fly besides those weird magic things you have," Goku replied casually, turning the bear once more. He still had not fully adjusted to technology; Bulma's capsules and vehicles were more like devices from another world than human technology.

"Like what?" Bulma asked, a blank expression on her face.

Smiling at Bulma's forgetfulness, Goku grinned. As the smell of cooked meat began to fully fill their nostrils, the duo decided the bear was ready. Telling Bulma he'd explain after they ate — he was hungry — the final touches began. While still untrained in the culinary arts, with Bulma's steady hand, Goku was able to be of some assistance. After gathering the materials from the Hoi Poi Capsules she had in her cases, the two set out to work seasoning the freshly cooked beast. It didn't take them long to cook and dress their meal. 

* * *

Having devoured their meal with gusto, Bulma was quick to turn the conversation back to flight. "So, Son, you said there are other ways to fly besides vehicles and your flight?"

"Ofh yesh theresh tonsh," Goku said thickly through a final mouthful of bear.

"Beg pardon?" Bulma raised an eyebrow at Goku's lack of etiquette, and Goku swallowed before continuing to speak again.

"I said there's tons," the spiky-tressed man replied as he and Bulma began to dispose of the bones of the bear. "Well, 'tons' might be a bit much, but I'm sure you can't possibly have forgotten!" And without waiting for Bulma to reply, Goku turned towards the sky and called out in ringing tones.

"Kinto'un!"

Within seconds after Goku had called out the name into the sky, there was a brief sound that filled the air and a figure became visible in the sky. Looming closer, it became clear it was a yellow cloud that was flying full pelt towards the two. The cloud descended, settling between the two of them. It took Bulma a total of two seconds to recognize what she was looking at.

"Isn't this...Kinto'un!? The cloud that old geezer gave you?" She leaned in, and tried to placed her hand gingerly on it. It slipped directly through the cloud, hitting the dirt beneath it. "...Of course."

Goku laughed. "It seems Kinto'un still doesn't like you too much."

"Hmph!" Bulma huffed, turned angrily away from the Somersault Cloud. "Why do I care what a cloud thinks about me anyway?"

"Because this is how we're going to fly," Goku said casually, if he was explaining the most obvious thing in the world. "You can't fly, but Kinto'un is pretty good at it, and I haven't taken it for a spin in awhile!"

"One problem with your brilliant idea, Goku," Bulma replied in an exasperated tone. Walking over to the cloud, she walked directly through it, the cloud parting to avoid contact with her entirely. "From this cloud's perspective, I'm apparently a Devil. I don't see any way I'm riding this thing; I don't even have my Micro Band anymore." Bulma was, of course, referring to the watch-like device she'd created for the purpose of shrinking. She'd used it to ride in Goku's shirt when they were teenagers, but she's given it to Muten Rōshi in exchange for a submarine and had never gotten it back. She shuddered to think of the uses he would probably be putting that watch, even now.

"Oh that's easy!" One had to admire how it took quite a lot to deter Goku from anything. "I'll carry you. It can't be that difficult."

"C-C-Carry me!?" Bulma's face tinted pink. With all the things she'd done in her teenage years — some of which she would admit to and others would be taken to her grave — the idea of Goku carrying her was highly embarrassing. Trying to play it off, she folded her arms, drawing herself up. "W-What are you going to do if I fall? I've seen you fly that thing! It doesn't exactly have safety mechanisms!"

"Are you trying to say you don't trust me?" asked Goku innocently; he actually seemed affronted.

"N-No, that's not it," Bulma shook her head, eyeing the cloud with trepidation. "I just don't have much faith in this thing." Bulma knew the cloud wasn't fond of her, and was now wondering what would happen if it decided to drop Goku while he was carrying her. The fall wouldn't be pretty. Bulma looked from the cloud to Goku's face, and sighed when she saw the innocent expression shining on it.

_Son_ wouldn't let anything happen to her while he was around. Sighing, she unfolded her arms, and extended them out to Goku with a huffy expression on her face. The black-haired man smiled, taking this to mean he'd won the discussion. Leaning in, Goku scooped Bulma into his arms, carrying her almost bridal-style, before jumping onto Kinto'un.

Unlike Bulma, Goku didn't fall through. To him, Kinto'un was as solid as any platform, just it still felt almost as if it wasn't there. It was quite different from flying, but when it came down to it, Kinto'un was his favorite way to get around.

"Kinto'un! Go!" Goku crowed, and the Somersault Cloud immediately lifted off the ground, leaving only Bulma's high-pitched shrieks of terror in the background.

Bulma, with her arms wrapped around Goku's neck, gripped it tighter in her panic, her eyes firmly shut tight as cloud flew them over the countryside.

Holding her lightly, Goku let out a cheerful laugh, finding Bulma's nervousness to be amusing. "Bulma, open your eyes! You're going to miss everything if you don't!"

With his words encouraging her, Bulma wrenched her eyes open with much difficulty. At first, all she saw was a mass of blue, her lavender eyes staring at the sky. "_C'mon, Bulma..._" She thought to herself. "_If you can invent new technology, you can look down from a magic flying cloud_." With this not-so-sound logic in mind, the young woman forced herself to look down and she gasped.

It wasn't anything she hadn't seen before, a bird's eye view of the surface of their planet. However, something about viewing it from Kinto'un gave it a different quality. The mountains themselves seem to take on a new life; flying above the clouds the way they were, it cast a misty shine onto the rivers and peaks below them. Beneath them, a pterosaur flew, stretching it's webbed wings and letting out a trilling roar.

Bulma remembered quite vividly the first time her search for the Dragon Balls had come to an end. When she had been captured by a pterodactyl, and was going to be eaten, Goku had rushed in to save her. Of course, it hadn't been quite as noble as she would liked to have remembered it; she practically demanded he save her, but the boy had rushed in without hesitation and she was alive because of that. These thoughts caused her to relax her grip on Goku, clinging to him only gently now as she relaxed against his chest.

The two were silent for the longest; Bulma merely observed the world from her new perspective, and Goku took in her reactions with utmost enjoyment. To him, she seemed like a child in how impressed she was, but Goku had been flying since the age of 14, through Kinto'un at least, so to him, what they saw was nothing new. Once he felt she was comfortable enough, her urged Kinto'un to add to the experience, and perform a few of its trademark somersaults in mid-air.

With adrenaline rushing through the both of them, Bulma looked up at Goku, smiling.

"Son, promise me something." The lavender-tressed girl asked, a tender edge to her voice that Goku had never quite heard before. "Don't ever let me go."

The question was shocking to Goku at first; he didn't quite register what Bulma was suggesting with the question, but he nodded either way. "I won't." He replied firmly. "Never."

-  
**A/N:**

**LastationLover: **_Whoo boy was this one in development longer than I'd like. Not as long as Jurassic World, mind you, which I saw DURING THE WRITING OF THIS. Probably influenced the pterosaur cameo. Beyond that, sorry, I was caught up in other things; I may be piling on too many projects, what with the Erased Chronicles, a one-shot I am doing, and this story, all being done at the time of this writing. But I do need breaks, which is why I opt for those one-shots and this story as well, so my Erased Chronicles doesn't become stale._

_Good news, before I address anything else! There will be NO eating next chapter. Not even a spoiler, we will not include Goku and Bulma killing some wild animal for the purpose of dinner. We'll assume they ate off-screen and call it a day. Beyond that, I like to think this story was pretty good. Yes, the inclusion of Bulma knowing what aliens are means were are considering _Jaco the Galactic Patrolman_ canon to this series, because it's canon to the actual series. Sorry, fans who love the Burdock special. I'm trying to make it quite blunt that Bulma likes Goku. There are moments where you'll notice, either because it's spelled out, or you're just good at picking it up, that Bulma regards Goku differently from the other men she's seen. Or women, as the case may be, we don't know what Bulma's done._

_Anyone remember that shrink watch of hers? Just me?_

_This chapter will be the one where I change from 'Goku' to 'Son'; as per the Japanese series. to better fit with my usage of Japanese terms. I'm also editing the first chapter to match with the use of 'Son' in this story._

_Anyway, that's about it for this chapter! Stay tuned for the exciting third chapter, it should be up pretty soon!  
_  
**Demod20: **_I loved this Chapter if only that there was a bunch of callback nostalgia wrapped up with feelz. If no one knew it, I wrote most of the first half of this update, and I enjoyed going through it, adding snippets of Bulma and Goku interaction. Even the dream sequence was hilarious just me typing it out. Goku saving Bulma from the bear, talking with each other on the rooftop, both of them sharing moments like that was what really propelled me through it. I'm glad to see what my friend added and can't wait for the next update, as much any faithful viewer here is. That's it from me, but I'll see you guys soon!_


	3. Stepping Forward

**Dragon Ball - The Heart of Adventurers**

**By Demod20, Edited by Firegod00 and LastationLover5000**

**Chapter 3 - Stepping Forward**

* * *

For the first time since her stay with Goku, Bulma was the first to rise. Her time spent with him the day prior, held in his arms while their magic cloud sailed across the heavens gave her clarity of what she began to feel. Not just for the experience or for the adventure, but for the man who brought her along. Something strong was there, she could feel it, and it wasn't anything superficial or shallow. A bond she had known was there but hadn't clarified until the last few days she spent some real intimate time with him.

Bulma knew that she was, or rather, has been in love with Goku for some time.

She was a bundle of nerves as she woke up at the crack of dawn, glad to see Goku was still snoring away the first light that bled through the mountain viewed horizon. Creeping out of her covers she tip-toed out of the hut to the outdoors. Changing quickly with a few changes of capsules the heir to Capsule Corp pulled out a phone and dialed her father's number.

"_I have to talk to him about this. He's the only one I can count on to think a bit more rationally than spastic me_," She concluded in her head with a nod to no one in particular; well, there was a tree but that didn't count.

Resting her head against said tree she counted the rings up to six before she got a response. There was a significant amount of coughs and she could only guess what happened. "Uh, dad?"

"Oh! Bulma! So glad of you to-kaff-kaff-kaff!"

"You alright?" The lavender haired daughter asked her father.

"Yes, I'm fine. A new form of engine that can power an aerial vehicle to move from the atmosphere to the moon for potential colonization practices. Unfortunately, every time I try to push the gauge to move faster than Mach 10, the core overheats and it smokes up my lab! It's a wretched smell to be sure..."

"That's...great," Bulma stressed out with a strained groan, beating her head against the bark in front of her.

"Something the matter? Aren't you enjoying your time out in the wild?"

"Oh! No, I am, really!" She protested with a turn on her heel, waving her free arm with unseen emphasis.

"Oh. I see."

"What do you mean, _you see_?" The young woman halted, frowning at her mental image of her father smoking a pipe when she heard those words.

"Perhaps...you're remembering something you didn't know you've forgotten. Something about Goku?"

Inhaling sharply she steeled herself, refraining from bursting out loud what her immediate thoughts where. Instead she settled for a forced calm response. "What about Goku?"

"Well, you tell me. I can only assume, given you are my daughter, what it could be about. But since you are a woman, and I am a man, I can't fathom everything that your mind processes. I could be wrong...but that's hardly ever true, haha!"

"Right," Bulma blew up her bangs, turning towards the horizon, leaning on her left elbow against the tree's trunk. "I...guess I've taken our bond for granted. Goku and I's, that is."

"Mhm, go on."

"Well, I guess you could say these last few days have struck an epiphany in me. In a way, I'm excited but also very afraid," She confessed, biting her lower lip as she sneaked a peak to look at the hut over her shoulder. Hearing Goku's distant snores she returned to her explanation. "I don't know how he'll respond. The last time someone said something like this to him, even if it wasn't the most proper, he denied those feelings poured out to him. Even if it was a misunderstanding, how will I know if he can accept my sincere, uh, thoughts?"

"Sweetie, if you want the honest truth, I wasn't always the successful scientist people know me as. When I fell in love with your mother, I was a struggling entrepreneur who only had a basic idea of what would become Hoi Poi Capsules. She didn't see me as a possibility to become rich or famous, she saw me as the awkward yet surprisingly intellectual man I'd further groom myself to be."

"Are you sure you're trying to give me a pep talk or are you selling me your autobiography?" His daughter asked with a dubious raise of a brow, adding to the dry tone in her voice.

"Ahem! The point being, I didn't go out of my way to impress your mother and neither she to me. We were up front about our feelings and before you'd know it we were hitched and ready to start a life of our own. True story, by the way."

"Right, thanks dad. I appreciated the talk," She sighed with a push off the tree. Wrapping her free arm around her waist as her eyes squinted at the rising Sun's purple-orange rays caressing the mountainside. Turning her back on the sign of daytime was upon her, she could hear Goku's snores disappear followed by a loud yawn. "I gotta go. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Of course you will, honey. See you when you get back!"

Inhaling deeply, she huffed as she pocketed her phone and strode back to the hut. She was determined to get this settled without delay. "_This is for the best. I can't let this hang over me for the remainder of my time here. Besides, it can't be that hard to confess to Son of all people!_"

So lost in thought she didn't pay attention to the whistling man walking out casually of the humble abode straight into her. She bumped straight into his taut chest, feeling herself stumbling back as if she walked into a hard wall. Barely catching herself, she looked up to see Goku's inquisitive stare from above her height.

"_I-I seem to forgotten how tall he was compared to me. And...how strong he is_," Bulma thought with a vibrant blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Oh, hi Bulma! Sorry I didn't see you there," Goku apologized hastily, laughing nervously as he scratched the back of his head the way only he knew how to.

"_He's so honest it makes him adorable. It's hard to imagine him being so serious when he rescued me from that bear...and all those other times he protected me_," She thought in a blissful reverie. She was enamored by the spiky haired man's innocence and ignorance rolled into one attractive personality.

An attraction that was completely lost to her childhood friend.

"Uh, Bulma?" Goku craned his head to the side, noticing she had been staring for some time.

Finding this out herself made Bulma lose track of what she set out to say. Her words were lost, hands fidgeting at her sides while her eyes darted away in a vain attempt to keep her gaze from his. It failed, and her nervous only continued to increase. "I...um...you...you see I was..."

"Huh?" The Turtle Schooler blinked with understandable confusion. "Bulma, what are you talking about?"

"Son, I...I...," Bulma trailed off, finding herself at a lost of what to do as her mind drew a blank.

"And why are you all red? Are you getting sick?" Goku asked with a step forward, reaching out to feel her forehead.

Widening her eyes at the sudden closeness, which in days past wouldn't have bothered her, making an unnatural instinct in her to move. Leaning back she narrowly avoided his touch by inches, stepping back just in time to find her composure. Unfortunately her state of mind hadn't returned.

"I...I...I just wanted to tell you," She tried to speak out loud, finding it more and more frustrating by his lack of decency when it came to space. When he tried approaching her again, of course out of concern, she reacted erratically in a fist clenched shout. "I'M PACKING!"

It was like doing a complete U-Turn of what she had set out to do. She had been so flustered and embarrassed by the situation that Goku had unknowingly aggravated her past the breaking point. When she opened her eyes, she felt a pang of guilt shoot through her heart; the look of disappointment was very evident on the man's face.

"Y-You're leaving?" He barely stuttered out, as if the thought never occurred to him that she was going to be gone so soon.

"Yes, I-I'm leaving," Bulma insisted, crossing her arms and turning to give Goku the cold shoulder beyond her reasoning. "I'll be ready to go by the time you get back from...from whatever you do without me."

"You mean...we're not going to go hiking today? Or...show me how to cook? Or clean the hut?" Goku asked with adamant disappointment, only dulled by the level of childish disbelief that she truly meant what she said.

"Son...I...I just want to be alone," Bulma finally confessed, though her feelings told her not to say it. "Please. Just...give me today to be on my own. I promise I'll stay here until you get back, to give you a proper goodbye. Just please...no more questions."

"Oh," Goku blinked thrice, finding himself in a no-win situation. If he kept asking what was going on, he'd risk earning a verbal lashing from one of the few friends he had. That and he didn't want her to leave just now. Sighing, he forced a smile and nervously waved at her as he began to retreat from her space. "Okay. I'll...just go and...train. Yeah, that's what I'll do! I'll be back in time for Supper! N-Not that I'm saying you'll have to cook or anything or...uh...okay, leaving now!"

As awkwardly as one could imagine, Goku broke off into a full-on sprint soon taking off into the air with an audible thrum of air waves being parted. The wind lapped on Bulma's body, her hair flourishing across her face, briefly obscuring a look of shame plastered across her visage.

Groaning out loud, she palmed her face with both hands, "I'm such an idiot!"

Hearing the faint echo of her dearest friend's sonic retreat, she was left to wallow to herself in both self pity and chastisement. She had an opportunity and she squandered it due to her own inept nature of coming out to say what she felt. Rubbing her temples, her palms eventually worked their way back to her cheeks and gave them a firm slap.

Opening her eyes from the spike of pain, she renewed her vigor to try and find a way to catch up to him. Reaching into her pocket of her jacket, she shuffled around for a proper capsule case fit for the job. When she found a suitable model she retrieved it and with a click she tossed it to the ground.

In a poof and a cloud of orange smoke, the unpacked item appeared in the form of a white colored motorbike with a safety glass arcing shield coming from the back over to the front to form a windshield. To its back it was labeled AF4029, a serial tag to transport Capsule Number 9, one of the first vehicles Bulma had used many years up to the present day. She smiled at the memorable vehicle, running her hands over the leather seat, reminded of the days she drove it with Goku wrapping his arms around her waist.

The memory triggered an instant of embarrassment, forced out with more slaps to the face. "I won't chicken out or freeze up again! I'll find the right moment to confront him and tell him how I feel. That's what will happen...it will happen!"

Hopping onto the seat, she leaned forward and revved it up to life with four twists to the right handlebar. With a loud roar her motorbike took off, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake as she sped off into the horizon.

* * *

"_I'm so hopeless_," Bulma thought as she slowly pulled back into the familiar mountain earth where Goku's hut presided. She had spent the better part of the day just trying to track Goku down but found it extremely difficult knowing that he had no Dragon Ball for a radar to home in on. The young woman swore she saw him blur past her unknowingly as he broke the sound barrier twice over in an unseen challenge of speed.

By the time she got within binocular distance, she felt as if she was looking through the glass of her world and into his. He was so focused, determined and fixated in his own training that she might as well been a passing breeze. After all her determination was spent with frustration, she head back to wait for him at home. At least where he called home, not where they lived together-

"S-S-Stop it! Now's not the time to think like that!" Bulma shouted out, banging her head against her transport's windshield. With a groan of pain at punishing her innocent forehead, she rubbed it tenderly as she dismounted her vehicle. Parking it close to the hut, she settled with leaning against the wall to the right of the entrance, idly fiddling with her bangs.

She lost track of time in her reverie of all the days she had spent with him. They brought back a wave of nostalgia and wonderment she had missed through these past two years since the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. Searching for the Dragon Balls, outwitting the Red Ribbon Army, meeting Muten Roshi and surviving the ordeals that followed were fantastic even by her standards. But it wasn't simply the yearning to explore or discovery that drawn her back to Goku; it was the sense of belonging like she never felt at home.

Just as her thoughts had drifted back to Goku she caught a glimpse of him in the horizon, tromping up the side of the mountain. Wrung over his shoulder was a Paozu Tuna, an enormous fish easily two and a half times the size of the man who carried it. Despite it having been dried out on the trek up the mountainside, Goku still perspired sweat from his rigorous workout across the valley only subsided by the dip in the river to find his dinner.

However, the sheer sight of the lavender haired girl still being at his house caused him to smile ear to ear. As often as he loved to eat, there was nothing better than having a meal with the company of friends; especially one as dear as Bulma. He practically sprinted the rest of the way, dropping the fish halfway as he scooped the woman in his arms and gave her an unexpected bear hug.

"S-Son?!" Bulma spurted out, her face bursting red as she felt her feet leave the ground and her body twirl around. Despite the unorthodox greeting, she couldn't help but laugh at his jubilation, despite her own embarrassment.

"You're still here! I was so worried you were going to be gone by the time I came home!" Goku confessed as he finally set her down within the fourth turn on his heels. Reaching up to scratch his messy scalp, he chuckled nervously as he looked at Bulma look down with apprehension unknown to him. "I-I know that whatever happened was...weird, but I was hoping you'd stay for dinner. I'll cook the proper way, seeing as you taught me an' all it's only fitting I treat you for once. What do ya say? Want to keep me company tonight over a campfire of delicious fish?"

It was unbearably charming how the man before her so innocently invited her to dine with him. She knew it was in his nature to be kindhearted and generous to those he cherished, but this was almost too much for her to take. Inwardly she had to kick herself and reassert this was the perfect opportunity. At the risk of putting a foot in her own mouth, she inhaled with deep preparation, ready to say what was on her mind since this morning.

"Actually," Bulma began, her soles rubbing uncomfortably on the earth as her eyes averted from looking at his for a few seconds. She could still a rising bout of apprehension block her from speaking up. But her determination to see this through shoved her doubts and worries away. Looking up with a flushed expression, she stuttered out her words to him. "I-I have something more i-important to talk about!"

"AH! More important than food?!" Goku stumbled back with alarm, recomposing himself with a serious stare into her big blue eyes. A bead of sweat traveled his scalp, cementing his attentiveness with an audible gulp. "Sounds serious. What's on your mind?"

"_This is it. No turning back this time,_" She mentally steeled herself with those thoughts brought up. Inhaling she exhales with a direct approach, knowing no other good way of saying it. "Will you take me as your wife to marry and live with me for the rest of your life?!"

Goku's hardened expression immediately broke into one of utter shock. It was one of the only memories that didn't involve life or death struggles that he could clearly and coherently remember in detail. That day Chi-Chi brought up the time from the past which was a mistake and what she thought was a proposal. But here, as clear as day, Bulma requested him to take her as his wife too? Why was marriage being thrown at him so many times in his life, he'd never know.

Shaking his head, Goku raised up shaking hands, widened eyes staring oblivious at his closest friend with a barely formed question, "Wh-Why? First it was Chi-Chi and I didn't even know what it meant. Even though I know what that means...why do you want me to marry you?! Aren't we good friends?"

"I know that, idiot!" Bulma cried out, more emotional than angry. Her eyes didn't waver in their gaze of him, even though her face was bright red with bashfulness. She was pouring out her heart and she didn't want to stop when she had the chance. "I...I tried to go back to my old life, I really did. I convinced myself of that the first time we parted ways when you went to train. But, after seeing you and coming back into my life the day of the Tournament I just realized how much I missed you. That feeling didn't go away that time since..."

The Turtle Schooler was just stupefied as Bulma continued to express her true feelings. He didn't know how to comprehend it. He had never being romantic with a single woman in his life nor truly understood of intimacy. Yet, he couldn't help but feel a nagging tug on his chest from within. "_This is different than with Chi-Chi. We were friends and then she became almost a violent person I couldn't recognize who wanted me for herself. It felt almost like she wanted to possess me or own me. I get the feeling this is completely different than that time, but why?_"

"When I first came here, I just wanted to get out of boredom, remembering how much fun we used to have," She admitted, her gaze falling to his feet, a fond smile crossing her face as her hands folded over shorts. "It was the most exciting moments of my life. And I wish I could do them over again and again with every day I thought about it. Then, it occurred to me just the other day, when I was held up in the sky by you. I didn't just wanted an adventure or another thrilling quest. I could always do that on my own. In truth I just wanted to be with you again and never leave your side."

Looking up, she took a step forward, almost regretting it on the offhand chance he'd flinch. But seeing him, steadfast if only for how much in stupor he was in she continued on good faith she wasn't rejected yet. "I love you, Son. I love how you act so calmly around me with such a carefree spirit. I love your humility and how you don't raise yourself higher than those around you. I love your determination in bettering yourself and even how much you love food. There's so many things I love about you I can't name them."

Another step and she was inches away from the taller man. Her eyes now watered to the point of overflowing, tears sliding freely down her face as she smiled up with quivering lips at him. It took all the will she had to not feel undignified or turn away. She wanted to look at him, see his eyes and know his reaction as she asked the most crucial question. "Son, do you understand now? Do you love me as much as I love you? Will you still marry me knowing my true feelings?"

Goku felt like a haywire of jumbled feelings. His cheeks were flushed and sweat crawled en mass down his scalp with nervousness. He had never been asked such a serious question. He was used to life's simple nature: Train, Eat, Talk to Friends, Fight enemies or spar with rivals, and sleep. That was his routine and he never thought of breaking that cycle his life had been put on, with only the occasional detour of finding mystic items or discovering new places. He didn't want more from life because nothing dramatic impacted him.

But this was different. He knew his life wouldn't have progressed as much as it could have if it wasn't for Bulma ramming a car into him that one fateful day. Meeting Yamcha, finding the Dragon Balls, Training with Muten Roshi, besting Tien, beating Piccolo both times and becoming a winner at the Tournament. None of it would have happened if it wasn't for Bulma and her friendship he established with her all those years ago. The more he thought about it, the more he came to an understanding how important she was to him and not just in the grand scheme of his life, but how he felt about her.

Through the recollection, Goku calmed down and slowly unraveled his own answer to her as she looked up with large, water filled eyes, "Well, when I have to think about it, I never had the opportunity to learn about love from my Grandpa. The most Roshi taught me about it was that he liked their bodies which all-in-all wasn't my main focus in life. Not even Kami could give me an answer when I asked him once or twice about it, saying he had no desire and that it didn't concern my training."

Continuing to wait for Goku to answer, Bulma felt intensity somber out as he looked down at her with a smile. "I guess, maybe its because I didn't know many girls or spent time with them as long as I did with you, I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with any other girl. You've helped me see there was a larger world outside of this mountain and I can't thank you enough for that. Your friendship has meant the world to me and I can't imagine a place better than with you in it. I think you were the one to teach me what a friend was and I have so many thanks to you."

Scratching the back of his head, Goku laughed lightly before inquiring in as serious tone as he could muster. "So...maybe you can teach me about love with you as my wife? I mean, if you want to marry me, I can't imagine anyone else other than you to spend the rest of my life with. Hahaha!"

An overwhelming surge of joy filled up Bulma, like an electrical charge had been turned on by a switch powered by Goku's words. Her eyes sparkled and her mouth stretched into the biggest smile she ever had donned. Even though he never admitted to loving her, this was the closest she knew that he'd get to proclaiming feelings towards her. She couldn't have imagined a brighter green light.

Laughing with him, she reached and pulled Goku into one of the biggest hugs she could give him, swinging around with him again by her own accord. She couldn't have felt happier than she had in the past. Today they are taking a step forward and move past the people they are yesterday into the molds of tomorrow. Upon finishing spinning she nuzzled into the crook of his neck, breathing in the scent that she only knew him by. The musk of the wilderness and the water that had long since dried when plucking the fish for dinner.

"_This feels nice; being in Goku's arms,_" She thought dreamily, ignoring the look of confusion crossing Goku's face. Though dumbfounded he found a strange allure to his higher-than-average senses. The warmth of her embrace and the enticing aroma coming from her hair down to the neck. Even the feeling of her arms rubbing against his shoulders and his own neck felt nice, tender in the touch and intention. He had never felt so much slack in his posture than now, the comfort of the situation not being lost on him. Like a child who discovered something wonderful, he held onto it silently and with a small smile.

"You know, Son," She whispered as she kept the hug that she was thankful hadn't ended. "After we have dinner, I really do need to pack. For the both of us, that is."

"Huh?" Goku blinked with surprise, separating from her to hold her by the shoulders. "Why leave? Don't you like it here?"

"I do," She insisted, then turning to look at the hut over her shoulder while the prior stared at it fondly. "I just don't think that place was meant for more than one person. You've grown a lot and I'd hate having to impose for you to sleep on the floor regularly. Besides, it may end up getting a little cramped not too long from now."

"Are you saying I'm going to get fat?" Goku asked with a pouty expression.

Snorting out with a laugh, Bulma had to contain herself before shaking her head, "Wow, Son. I guess I'll have to explain later. But for the meantime, just trust me, okay? I'm sure you don't want to learn how to build a bigger house when we could just move back in with my parents? We're pretty rich so running out of food won't be a problem, even one with such a healthy appetite."

A thunderous rumble echoed from the martial artist's belly at the mention of the F word so many times in a row. He had put off dinner to settle matters concerning Bulma. Now that it was settled, he released his grip from his now betrothed to sprint swiftly back to his now dried catch. Lifting it up with a broad smile, he asked her innocently, "Can I cook it this time? I'm sure I can make it delicious, thanks to you!"

Flushing at the compliment, she smiled sweetly and nodded with a blissful tone in her voice. "Yes, anything for you, Son."

* * *

After they ate, it didn't take long to pack, thanks to the miracle of Hoi Poi Capsules. All of Goku's personal affects, from a few change of clothes to the Dragon Balls he had recently collected and then the Nyoi-bō that belonged to his grandfather everything was gathered that was deemed necessary. He took his time to give a somber farewell, determined to visit it every once in awhile to pay tribute to his childhood home.

Driving back, Bulma was all sorts of excited to break the news to her parents. Using the motorbike she had used to try and follow him earlier that day they drove into the sunset back home. Goku held onto her tightly, much to her joy, as the two of them raced across the countryside at dangerously high speeds. The dirt billowed up in their wake, wind nipping at the edges of her skin away from the overhead windshield, with the scenery unfolding around them as they passed it by. Unlike the arduous journey from before it became a breathtaking trip back.

When she moved through the familiar highways, she saw Goku wave at some of the passing by traffic and was in awe as country became cityscape. Entering West City the two veered towards the more suburban area close to where she lived. She was glad that the city was lit up nicely, otherwise she'd have trouble navigating back. Parking her vehicle along the driveway, she got out a bit too quickly, pulling an unsuspecting Goku onto the asphalt ground.

Having braced her fall, she was only mildly stunned while Goku laughed at their carelessness. She fumbled for an apology as they both stood back up to their feet. Dusting herself off she pressed the button on the bike, collapsing it back into its Capsule state so she could pocket it appropriately.

Inhaling deeply, she turned to look at Goku and smiled, "Alright. It's been awhile since my family met you so be on your best behavior. Understand?"

"Aw, lighten up Bulma. I remember your dad alright. He's the guy with the nice mustache, right?" Goku asked with a near excited tone with a giddy smile.

Giggling with a roll of her eyes, she sighed, "Fine. Let's just go inside and see what happens."

Walking up to the front door, something within her had a nagging feeling. Like something she forgot to tell her fiance -something she was still getting used to calling him- regarding her parents. The irritation only mounted as she knocked on the door with Goku standing attentively to her left. It had probably something to do with them, but what was it?

Opening the door, Panchy was there, with Dr. Brief peering in not too far behind her. Greeting them both with a smile, she clapped her hands together with a blissful smile adorned to her face, "Oh hello there, you two. When my sweet Bulma left, I didn't expect to see you both back. What brings you here this time, Goku?"

"Hello, Bulma's parents!" Goku greeted with a hand wave and a wide smile. "I'm marrying Bulma! Hope you two don't mind!"

Sputtering with incredulity, Bulma almost fell down with shock at how blunt he was. Standing up quickly, she had half a mind to turn on Goku and scold him for taking away the thing she had planned on doing. But, in her forgetfulness and shock, she had the opportunity to see her parents just casually smile and nod at him.

"Oh, isn't that lovely?" Panchy clapped with a bright smile. "I always thought you two would make a good couple."

"Mhm, about time they fessed up to each other. Well, at least one of them did, I reckon," Dr. Brief coughed at the end, smiling wryly with a wink over his wife's shoulder aimed at their daughter.

"Huh?" She blinked with disbelief at her mother, not fully understanding what she was saying. They knew about the two of them all along? She remembered how her father had thought Goku was her boyfriend when he was introduced to him years ago. She never believed they were pairing her and him up all these years.

"Why don't you two come inside? I'll cook up some snacks if you'd like," Panchy offered as she sauntered back towards the kitchen.

"Oh! I could go for a bite after that ride here!" Goku responded with gusto. Striding in, Bulma came in with him, blushing slightly at the news broken so carelessly. Though she couldn't help but seeing that it wouldn't have happened any other way. His straightforwardness was a trait she both gawked and admired on equal worth depending the occasion.

Watching him enter in and watch her mother like a dog waiting for the master to reward him with tasty treats, she sidled upon the wall's entrance to the kitchen. The familiar scent of pipe smoke filled the air caused her to look to her left. When he puffed a few times she almost laughed at the sight.

"You know, as much smoking you've done, I just might inherit that bad habit of yours," She commented offhandedly with a sly grin.

"I don't condone _that_ kind of inheritance," Dr. Brief intoned with a cloudy exhale. Turning to look at her with a hidden smile, he chuckled with afterthought. "But the rest you're free to have and then some."

"I'll have to get back to you on that," Bulma winked at him with a chuckle.

"Here you go honey," Panchy announced, setting up a number of frozen desserts along with a pie at the center of delicious treats. "Eat up."

"Whoo-hoo!" Goku cheered with joy, taking the nearest spoon before his arms and mouth became a blur to the devouring of the offered food. As Panchy watched in awe with how much he devoured or could fit in his mouth, Dr. Brief and Bulma saw this as an inevitability.

"You sure know how to pick 'em," He gestured with his pipe at the voracious new guest of theirs.

"Remember what mom used to say?" Bulma asked, earning a tilting glance towards her. "We don't choose who we fall for. The heart does that for us."

"Touche," The older man nodded sagely as he put the pipe back into his mouth.

"AH!" Goku set down the last of the plates, far quicker than anyone could have imagined. With every last dish licked clean, it caused Panchy's nearly unseen eyes to open and blink widely at the marvel. All desserts were eaten and Goku seemed to look slightly sated. Patting his belly, the martial artist wiped his mouth with a nearby paper towel to be a bit more polite. "All done! Thanks for the treat, Bulma's mom."

"My poor cupboard doesn't stand a chance against you, Goku," Panchy laughed after regaining her collection, grabbing the dishes and quickly cleaning the table.

As she set about doing that, Goku skipped back to Dr. BriefDr. BriefBrief and his daughter, smiling broadly at having his belly full, "You're right about one thing, Bulma. I could eat as much as I want here. Your family's food is great!"

"Thank you," Dr. Brief replied with a nod and a grin, puffing on his pipe while Bulma shook her head.

After a few moments of silence followed by dishes being cleaned in the background, Goku couldn't help but think. It had comprehended him that other than breaking the news they still had yet to do the marrying. Since he was someone not experienced in such ventures, he turned towards Bulma and asked with a scratch to his chin, "So, Bulma. When do we get married?"

She herself hadn't thought of it so the question came as a surprise. Looking to her father she asked simply, "What do you think, dad? Should this weekend work?"

"Hmm," The Capsule Corp President hummed thoughtfully, sucking on the pipe's stem as he pondered carefully. Looking over to the kitchen sinks which his wife busied herself on, he called out with query. "Honey, do you think this Sunday will work?"

"If your schedule with the company is clear I don't think it'd be that difficult," She chimed back, picking up a platter and scrubbing it with a soapy towel. "Do you want this wedding to invite a lot of people or keep it quiet?"

"Good point," Dr. Brief nodded at that thought, turning to look at Bulma. "If you make this wedding public it could get quite crowded. Plus, I'd wager a number of Goku's _friends_ if you know what I mean might want to attend."

"Let's keep this informal," She stated with a wave of her hand. "I don't want anyone potentially ruining our big day."

"Do you mind if I invite our staff? Your wedding may be publicized the day after so might as well let everyone who works for Capsule Corp in on the know," The Business man asked her daughter with a few puffs on his pipe.

"I don't care much. I know they'll be on good behavior at least," Bulma agreed with a nonchalant shrug. She knew most of the company's employees by name and the recent she recognized by their faces. They were almost like an extended family as far as she was concerned.

"Excellent! I'll have some of them help with managing the wedding and reception afterwards. Shouldn't be that much to ask with a paid day off," He added with a chuckle. Turning to look at Goku, he gave a nonplussed grunt and asked with hesitation. "I'm guessing you've got nothing ceremonial to wear?"

"Sara-what?" Goku inquired lamely.

"Ceremonial," Bulma corrected her fiance, smiling patiently with him as she waved to her lab-coat covered father. "It means something fancy to wear. Like if dad was dressed in a suit instead of his normal coat."

"I resent that! All the scientists wish they were dressed as well as me!" Dr. Brief turned his nose up, proudly puffing up his chest while straightening his collar that had a line of soot around the edges.

"Haha, nope!" Goku laughed with admittance, scratching the back of his head as he gestured to himself. "I only got a few sets of gi to wear. I rarely change from one to another."

"Ah...well, hopefully we can do something about that," The scientist sighed with a shake of his head. Giving a thorough look at him, he nodded with understanding at Goku's size and build. "I don't think we have any suits on hand in your particular size. Maybe I can have one custom tailored for you by this weekend. I'm sure we can make it work."

"Sounds good!" Bulma clapped with excitement.

"Now, as for sleeping arrangements," The father of one declared, pointing at the two of them sternly. "Separate. Bedrooms. No discussion."

"But-!"

"Okay!" Goku interrupted Bulma with a smile, not fully comprehending the ramifications of his agreement to his engaged's father. Though he might have spoke too quickly, given the morose look he spotted out of the corner of his eye worn by Bulma. Leaning over, he waved to her readily with a smile. "Don't worry. We'll still be in the same house and the wedding won't be too far away."

"You're right," Bulma acknowledged with a half-decent smile.

"And if you're wondering about keeping yourself occupied, Goku," Dr. Brief suggested with a opportunistic smile. "I'm sure you can help my prototype division with some of their inventions. Ordinarily I think it'd be a bit dangerous but this is an application I need tested on someone. Might giving me a hand for the next few days?"

"Sure," The martial artist answered with a shrug. "I think I can take it."

"Alright," Dr. Brief sighed with finality, placing his hands in his coat. "The wedding will be four days from now. I hope you two young ones can handle being within an arm's length until then but before you know it, the day will be here."

* * *

And so, for the next three days were one of personal frustration for Bulma while Goku was experiencing new things with each day. On occasion he snuck away for a few hours to train but always returned to assist Dr. Brief with more tests he had in mind. Some were unexpectedly painful while others exhilarated him. He had no idea how many devices were under development and awaiting to be utilized for the first or dozenth time.

Bulma could only busy herself by helping her mother handle wedding plans. They'd rent out a chapel in West City and were pleased the minister there was more than pleased to help with the ceremony. Since all of the invitations were Capsule Corp employees fishing up their addresses wasn't hard and took less than an hour to mail to them appropriately. The monetary incentive, she thought, was always a nice way to get them to come even if they didn't like weddings.

The day before the wedding she tried on her dress just as out of sight Goku was fitted for the suit. While she reveled the gown's flowery design, Goku couldn't help but complain how hot he felt inside his own apparel. He couldn't help but feel aghast at the idea of standing for hours during the ceremony but was enthusiastic at the idea of a feast awaiting them after the fact. If the motivation for food wasn't so great, he'd insist on changing the theme from formal to casual.

During the day of the wedding, Goku was escorted there ahead of the bride, making sure he wouldn't see her much to his confusion. Dr. Brief made sure that they'd cut it close to decrease amount of time his daughter's betrothed being in his uncomfortable attire. Walked down the aisle with various flower girls and attending employees to fill up the necessary placements, he was thrilled when his daughter came.

"You look beautiful, honey," Dr. Brief greeted his daughter with a proud smile.

"Thanks, dad," Bulma shyly smiled, her face hidden by the white veil of her gown.

"You better hurry, though," The Capsule Corp President suggested, leaning in to whisper to her. "You-Know-Who is getting antsy as he is. The prospect of food is the only thing keeping him from tearing off his suit."

"I'll keep that in mind," She laughed, realizing how out of his element it must be for him to sit still and dress properly. Breathing deeply she set out to walk with her father, arm-in-arm into the auditorium. "I'm ready."

As the doors opened, the music kicked into full gear and everyone in attendance stood up. From the young to the old, all Capsule Corp employees marveled at Bulma's beauty and the refined appearance she had in her chosen dress. Her walk had only taken a half a minute, something she knew her white suited betrothed was all the more thankful. Seeing him gawk at her dress, having never seeing one before, was enough to make her blush behind her veil.

"Wow, Bulma," He exclaimed after swallowing, looking at her from trim to veil of her wedding apparel. "You look great! I mean, I can't see you very well but your dress looks nice!"

"Thanks, Son," She replied sweetly, batting her eyes at him through the veil.

"Greetings, everyone!" The minister, draped in a similar white themed uniform, looking at the standing crowd. With a nod they seated, leaving the remaining head members of the company to stand next to Goku with Dr. Brief himself. Seeing everyone there he began his lengthy message about the true essence of love, the bonds shared and the camaraderie of two people as husband and wife.

It was unfortunate that Goku only half listened, doing all he could to not squirm in place. The suit was so irritable yet the idea of standing the whole time in it without moving an inch, smiling at Bulma, put a difficult strain on him. Just seeing people sitting out of the corner of his eye caused him due unrest. He just hoped for something to break the monotony of which he only cared a little about.

One half hour passed and he only met the halfway point of the wedding's initial ceremony. Thankfully, much to his relief, something did happen. Unfortunately for Bulma it'd be to her own chagrin.

"HEY!" Came a shout from a particularly spiky haired man in an unbuttoned green jacket with yellow highlights, yellow muscle shirt lying underneath with dark hued jeans. With a baseball cap with the highlighted T on it, the scar-faced athlete looked familiar to a few sports goers in the auditorium. But he looked familiar to a particular pair; the ones who were about to be wed!

"Oh no..." Bulma groaned at the sight of her Ex showing up.

"Y-Yamcha?!" Goku stuttered out with disbelief, both at his appearance and his arrival. "What are you doing here?!"

"So you two are really here. That means you really are getting hitched," Yamcha muttered out, followed up with a few steps forward cemented with a fist upraised in their direction. "That's something I cannot allow!"

"Young man, I think you don't understand," The minister cleared his throat, trying to exercise some semblance of authority over the disrupted wedding. He could already see people mumbling and looking around with confusion plastered over their faces. Trying to make this less of a mockery, he gestured to the rest of the chapel. "This is a closed ceremony. If this was public, I'd allow people to speak out against this holy matrimony. However, this is no place for-"

"Stow it, preach!" The scar-faced baseball player yelled and pointed at the older man, looking especially passionate by the fire in his eyes. "This is a battle of love! Stay out of it!"

While the minister felt helpless to defuse the situation, Bulma didn't help things by screaming across the hall at him, "How did you even find out about this?! We didn't even invite you!"

"Why are you mad, sweetie? Isn't he a friend of yours?" Panchy asked, remembering at one point the two had dated in the past.

"I broke up with him, mom. There was a reason you didn't see us arm in arm after that," She growled with an unseen twitch around the brow.

"Huh, isn't this quite the dilemma?" Dr. Brief stroked his chin nonchalantly, looking to Goku with curiosity in his eyes. "I wonder what he plans on doing?"

"Beats me," Goku shrugged, waving with a smile over at his old friend. "Hey, Yamcha! Been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Yes, Goku, it has," Yamcha sternly replied, staring him and Bulma down with equal intensity. "Sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances, but this is personal for me. Did she tell you that she broke up with me not too long ago?"

"Uh, no. What does that mean?" Goku asked with a chin scratch, almost making Yamcha stumble over while Bulma sighed.

"It means we didn't get along as a couple and one person had enough being with the other person," The latter explained with a tired tone in her voice. She really just wanted her wedding to finish and Yamcha's arrival helped nothing but delay things. Turning to look at him from the distance, she pointed directly with a snarl in her voice. "However, that still doesn't change my question. Why are you here?"

Holding up a scrap of paper that was officially printed and looked to have fit in an envelope, Bulma recognized it even from a distance as an invitation. "I knew a buddy on our team that was interning at Capsule Corp. He told me he had come under the weather and wouldn't be able to attend or handle the reception proceedings. He asked me to take over for him. I asked who was getting married and I couldn't believe it was really you two, of all people!"

Crumpling up the invitation in his hand, he raised both hands up, throwing them back beside himself as he finished with a cry, "That's why, I'm going to fight for your hand!"

Bulma was practically beside herself. She had never seen Yamcha so serious before, even when things were concerned for her. Why was he now trying to turn a new leaf? It had to be a trick, she knew better.

While she fiddled for a decision, Goku turned towards the minister with a raised hand, almost like a student to a teacher to ask a question. "Uh, hey. I know this seems like a crazy idea but what if I take him up on his offer? I beat him and then we can be married."

"F-Fine!" The minister nodded his head, hurriedly waving his hands towards the offending arrival. "Just do it quickly. The sooner he can leave the better!"

"Alright!" Goku fist pumped, leaping from the platform to perform an acrobatic knee tucked flip in the air. Landing with a crouch just a few meters away from Yamcha, he rose to full height, much to the clamor of the crowd around them.

"I-I didn't expect a fight to break out," Stuttered a nervous intern.

"I'm sure getting my money's worth," Declared a more vocal engineer of the Corp, shaking his hand with a sparkle in his eyes. "My favorite player from the _Taitans_ battling it out with the President's daughter's fiance! This will be awesome!"

"Gotta take some pictures!" Another cried out as he pulled out a camera and began taking snap shots of the square off.

"**You all should give the two their space!**" Dr. Brief announced through a megaphone that he seemed to have materialized out of thin air; thin, wispy and smoke filled air. "**I wouldn't want to have to pay for your hospital bills on your paid day off!**"

At this notion, all of the nearby attending members of Capsule Corp backed up along their seats within the chapel. Wall-to-wall, they watched on with rapt attention, having never expected such an event to occur in a wedding. While Bulma watched on worriedly from the pedestal with her amused father, Panchy watched blissfully from the sidelines, not entirely worried about the outcome of this fight.

"To be honest," Yamcha began to say, turning his ball cap around till it was backwards. "I didn't train too much ever since I began my career as a baseball player. Between that and the requests for other ventures, I couldn't deny the opportunities. I think that's why Bulma thought I wasn't being that faithful of a boyfriend. Probably even thought I cheated on her too, even if it wasn't true."

"I know you, Yamcha. You may have been underhanded in our first fight, but you're honorable deep inside," Goku complimented as he did some stretches that his suit allowed, moving from one ankle down to the other, rising up to roll his shoulders each which way. "I'm sorry we had to fight under these circumstances. I really like Bulma and this means a lot to her. For that reason, I won't hold back against you."

"Wouldn't want you to begin with," The fellow martial artist replied with a toothy grin. As their muscles were properly readied for a conflict, their _ki_ began to rise. The effects were almost immediate, as a shift in the air's quality became unsettled with heat rising around their vicinity. Electricity began to be seen dancing faintly around the pair's body, almost transparent in their discharge to the point of almost seeming like an illusion. With both fighters settled around their appropriate levels of strength, all that was left for the first move to be made.

With nothing left to be said, both dashed towards each other. Colliding with enough force to blow back the pews on top of each other, the aisle was indented underneath their feet. Forearms were locked and a pair of eyes were seen staring heatedly between the two. Pulling back, both exchange a series of punches and kicks, visibly distorting the space around the two to make them almost indistinguishable.

One upper cut followed by a left hook sent Yamcha sprawling across the aisle, but didn't put him down entirely. Steadily he rose back up and heaved with effort while Goku smoothly strode towards him with a serious glint in his eyes. Smiling, the ex-bandit charged forward, making a sign as if he was making ready to use a Wolf Fang Strike. Thrusting an open palm to hit Yamcha in the face before he'd make contact, he was surprised to hit thin air, the assault a feint as he swerved under Goku's guard and landed a vicious knee kick to his gut.

"Gaugh!" Goku stumbled with surprise, holding a partially tattered suit jacket with the undershirt torn from the impact alone.

"Wolf Fang," The Turtle Schooler heard Yamcha growl behind him, making him stiffen and turn to block the incoming strike. Instead his outstretched arms were grasping a searing wide beam of plasma, overlapping his upper body with unforgiving fury as it exhaled out of the chapel's door and crashing with a mighty explosion outside. Enough power was placed that a mighty gust of wind echoed within the chapel's interior. Finishing with the haze of steam that obscured Goku's person, he smirked at saying it, believing he won. "Kamehameha."

"Son!" Bulma cried out, believing he had somehow lost to Yamcha of all people.

"That was a good hit, Yamcha," A voice answered seriously, the steam finally blowing off a now shirtless Goku. With Bulma blushing as much as she was happy to see he was untouched by the attack. With the scar-faced man looking absolutely stunned his friend managed to defend against the sneak attack, he was beside himself by the thanks he got. "I felt a bit constrained by that suit. I think I can properly exercise my _no restraint_ promise now."

Yamcha was about to question what he meant until Goku's arm moved like an invisible blur before his eyes. A thunderous impact that rumbled the structure took place, causing the scarred man's face to pinch up around the mouth and sockets bulge eyes. Clenching his abdomen with indescribable pain, he fell to his knees as Goku walked calmly beside him back to the altar. As he keeled over to writhe with agony, the pleased bare chested martial artist stood apart from his blushing bride before piping up a simple.

"Okay, ready now!"

"Uh...I," The minister began, looking pale faced at the display of inhuman power shown. Clearing his throat, he finally waved hastily in as ceremonious fashion as he could between the two. "I-I pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride now."

As Goku meticulously removed the veil from Bulma's flushed face, it came time for a moment of truth. He had never kissed a girl nor was kissed at all. All he could do was awkwardly lean in and hope things worked out. Despite the awkward presentation, Bulma giggled at the sight and closed her eyes, doing the rest of the work. When the two lips meshed, a round of applause was heard but fell on deaf ears. To Bulma she was finally with her man and giving her first kiss to him as well.

Through the other's perspective, he felt a host of stimuli he had never experienced before. The moment their kiss happened, it felt like he was struck by lightning on the inside. A rush of warmth swam from his head down to his toes, circling around his belly and tapping his fingertips. Pupils dilated at the sensation as their kiss seemed to prolong, his own face now blushing at the first kiss he ever gave to a girl, even one he liked.

When Bulma parted from him, she was surprised by the bashful expression on Goku's face, causing her to laugh and ask him, "What is it, Son? Don't tell me this is your first kiss?"

Not knowing if Bulma was teasing or not, he simply nodded his head and asked with a stupefied look on his face. "That was a kiss?"

"Yes, Son. That was a kiss," She answered patiently with him, smiling brightly all the while as she confirmed she shared her first with his own.

"Wow," He awed out loud with slow blinks, still getting used to the bubbling feeling in his stomach. Shaking his head, he pointed to his lips again and asked with a broad smile. "Can we do it again?"

A host of laughter was heard, by her father to the rest of the congregation attending with the exception of an unconscious Yamcha lying fetal position in front of the alter. While Bulma simmered bashfully at that kind of request, Goku couldn't help find what was funny about it. Rolling her eyes she threw dignity to the wind and wrapped her arms around Goku's neck, pulling him into a kiss that was doubly more passionate. With both of their eyes closed, his arms wrapped tentatively around her waist as the entire chapel exploded into another round of cheers and applause.

This was truly the happiest day of their lives.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Demod: **_Hey, all. This is a first, being the one to write an entire Chapter of Heart of the Adventurers on my own. Reason being, my co-author is currently busy with not only another story, RL job, but also the recent purchase of a beloved video game. I'll let you guess as to what that is for any of you Anime fans out there -w-_

_I had a lot of fun writing this Chapter if only to exercise my rarely practiced skill of delving into romantic text. Given that my editor watched my every move with approval, it is apparent that I need to delve into this kind of subject matter more often. Goku and Bulma truly are a couple that deserved to be with each other in Canon. But no, a psycho housewife is MORE FUNNY to Toriyama. Cultural differences aside, I've always liked seeing Bulma in the series and this was the best way for me to get a proper proposal out of Goku without it seeming forced as well as a wedding that'd be believable within the context of the series._

_I'll let my fellow author have his say before I close._

_Alright, with everything that needs to be said, you should be happy to report that I'll begin work anew later this month on this chapter. With my friend's help, we should be on time with our Bi-Monthly schedule and have it posted sometime in October. Other than that, I wish you all well until the next update of Dragon Ball: Heart of the Adventurers!_

**Lastation:** _So, I'm sorry for this chapter taking so long to come out. I haven't had best motivation for writing. To anyone here who also reads my Erased Chronicles, I apologize as well; my lack of drive is the reason the chapter — and this one — took so long. This chapter is the first one in our entire series that was actually a solo effort. Because I'm turning all of my energy to trying to get out my chapter of Erased, Demod agreed to write both halves. My half of the story was supposed to be the wedding section, but I was taking so long, and to keep to our schedule, Demod had to bite the bullet and write it._

_In terms of quality, that may have been a good move; I personally love the section he wrote, it was adorable, heartwarming, funny, and ingenious. But maybe I'm biased; he is my friend. Beyond this, some of you may have felt the wedding was a bit too rushed...but it's Goku and Bulma in a wedding. It literally couldn't have been done any other way; Bulma is impatient, and you can't ease Goku into this anymore than we have. _

_So, looking at everything we've covered now, we'll be segueing into Bulma and Goku's family life from here on for awhile. The slice of life aspect of our story isn't done yet, guys! Stay tuned for our next chapter, where I'll be involved in writing again! (Also, rest assured, I did do the proofreading for this chapter; I wasn't entirely away from it.)_


	4. Another Day Of Our Lives

**The Heart of the Adventurers**

**By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, Edited by Firegod00**

**Chapter 4 - Another Day Of Our Lives**

* * *

**_Last time, on Dragon Ball: Heart of the Adventurers:_** After one year of separation, Bulma and Son Goku were reunited. Feelings emerged and were confessed by the young heiress of Capsule Corp to the childhood friend of hers. Not pushed away but accepted thanks to the rare bond they hold, wishing to learn the meaning of love for himself, Bulma proposes they marry. When the young couple have their day under the sun, Yamcha comes to stop the proceedings only to fail to stop Goku's desire to make Bulma happy. After sharing a tender first kiss the newlyweds begin their journey in learning what it means to truly be entwined as one.

And now, the Adventure continues!

* * *

Son Goku felt great. It was just one of many words he could use to describe the feelings he was having. Ever since being married to Bulma he was introduced to a myriad of new sensations that he himself had never thought possible. All of these came under the unusual need for privacy for which he desired to share with others but was insisted not doing so. Coming from a man who had never kissed before when he finally did so his awareness of his masculinity was made known to him in the bedroom.

Which is where he was at this very moment. Under the covers he was snuggled up against his beautiful wife, her head nestling underneath his neck with her lower body partially draped over his. Under the sheets they were as bare as they day were born but with them layered over their skin they had the looks of a true couple. Bulma smiled, still in her dreams, partially from the passionate night she had spent with her lover. Goku's more playful smile was wide and open, a blush played across his neck up to his cheeks as he still recounted the last night and many nights they spent.

"_Can't believe it's been six months already_," He thought with a turn of his head, seeing the tiniest glimpses of Sunlight beginning to peter through the window. Despite its curtains his body already told him what time it was, and no alarm clock or blinds could stop that. The only chagrin he had was that he had to pry himself away from his soft, warm bed that his wife presided within.

He had to do so delicately, remembering the last time he accidentally roused her. He had received a good thrashing for waking her up, not to mention she whined that he was leaving bed so early. But after awhile the two had agreed this was his routine without him having the urge to run to the mountains. He had to get his exercise somehow.

After untying the last leg and arm from Bulma's sleep ridden form, he tip-toed across the carpeted bedroom and reached for his nearest affects. Having been forced to be accustomed to civilian attire instead of wearing the same gis he always had, he found that a particular colored pair of garments were to his liking.

One of the changes of apparel he found was perfect for the situation. Pulling over a black sleeveless muscle shirt that conformed to his very apparent muscular build he pulled up a pair of boxers that went under his orange slacks. With white and black tennis shoes fitted over his feet he felt that he was dignified enough to start his morning routine. A routine that he has practiced and perfected over the course of the last half year.

After stuffing a healthy snack down his gullet to help wake himself up, he settled on the front lawn of Capsule Corp. Stretching out, he'd follow up with one hundred push-ups and sit-ups. Lastly he drank a liter of juice that he disposed of proper on the disposal unit sitting next to the curb of the driveway.

"Okay! I feel ready to tackle the day!" He exclaimed, breaking out into what any athlete would call a sprint and what Son Goku considered a casual jog. His body rushed through the wind, his feet beat the asphalt as his form took upon the current of a galloping beast. A smile fixated on his face as his arms were kept close to his chest while his breath was quick and shallow.

Despite not going at full speed it was an exhilarating experience for the married martial artist. The feeling of the wind lapping at his skin, his clothes flapping against his body and the light feather touch his soles made against the ground as he made record speeds around the waking metropolis. From his perspective the birds' wings were lazily flapping in the air, the sprinklers on lawns were spitting dots of water at a laid back pace, and the woodpecker against a tree was knocking against the bark one beat at a time.

Since he saw only a minimal traffic downtown, both on the sidewalk that he avoided and the street he currently tread he decided to check his leg strength. Without skipping a beat he halted his momentum just for a moment the Martial Art Champion bent his knees and jumped up. His iconic hair flourished about his scalp as the air rushed past his cheeks and howled against his ears. Slowing down when he could see low floating clouds just a hairsbreadth above his head he took the time to look down at the city from high above.

With the rising Sun now passing up the horizon the metal and concrete dominated populated center gleamed and refracted the rays like a mesmerizing painting. Monorails passing through the busy city looked like glistening lines from the height he was floating at. Cars were nothing but dots, with people all but disappeared into the vista that Western Capital has created from his bird's eye view. A giggle escaped his throat at the beautiful picture that was forged from his vantage point, almost disbelieving he lived in such a densely lived area of the world.

"Ahhhhh," Goku sighed out loud with a broad smile on his face. "I never get tired of the view. Maybe I can get some aerial practice. Maybe after that I can head back and see how's Bulma is doing."

After announcing his game plan out loud, the casually dressed man closed his eyes and emptied his mind. He was no longer in the heavens or on planet Earth. An empty void filled his inner eye, allowing him to gauge his new found training ground. It was a technique Kami had taught him during his time spent on God's Palace. A form of training that so much as didn't rely on sparring with a living being but with incorporeal ones given shape with focus and calming oneself.

Image Training.

Opening his eyes he turned to see the first of his opponents rush at him. He was the infamous Jackie Chun, an opponent he had never forgotten for barring his path to being Champion of the Tenkaichi Budōkai the first time he participated. The older man of stark grey hair on top and a white fanciful beard that looked reminiscent of his master, the Turtle Hermit.

Dodging the first punch that he swore almost nicked his cheek he returned in kind with a left jab that was blocked easily by the shorter man. When he replied with a leaping spin kick Goku thought quickly and ducked low, allowing the attack to hit nothing but air. Rising up he put all of his might into a concussive uppercut, driving his knuckles into his chin and sending him soaring up into the empty abyss ceiling.

As he created an impeccable twinkling star, he narrowly leaped to his right to avoid a downward chop by another rival of his. Tenshinhan, born to the Three Eyed Clan was the unnatural yet talented martial artist who at one point wished to kill him but now just desires to be his equal. The Crane and Turtle Schools had been at odds for awhile but they were the first generation to form a bond of friendly rivalry rather than hostile grudges.

When the taller bald man flung forward the Turtle Schooler raised his guard and deflected the majority of the finger jabs and cross-hand strikes. Unlike his own style that focused extreme strength through minimal swift contact he admired the precise and calculated attacks of his opponent. Witnessing a second pair of arms erupt from his shoulders by a mere flex, Goku felt himself forced to take serious action.

In a burst of intense speed he left an after-image, cartwheeling to the right before leaping in a vaulting jump that spun over his head. Kicking off the air once more he drove a hard elbow strike to the three eyed man's turned head, knocking him out cold and sending him sprawling to the floor of the abyss room he had created. He had to collect his breath at witnessing that re-imagined rematch, though he wondered if he had him perfectly represented or not.

That thought was soon lost to him as a haunting chuckle emanated from behind. Turning around he felt his blood boil and his eyes glare at his cruel faced target. Endowed with the body of a bi-pedal dragon, the abhorrent spawn of Piccolo the Great Demon King, Tambourine stood not but a handful of meters away. The green scaled monster was responsible for killing many martial artists, including his own best friend Krillin.

Not even indulging the subconscious manifestation of his former enemy a moment to prepare, Goku shouted out as he careened towards him. He pictured a look of horror on his face just before his fist wedged into his skull and caved it inwards in a messy display of ferocity. Leaving the villain headless in his wake, he turned around to stew in his hatred of the being that had caused so much heartache and suffering in his wake.

But there was one person that caught his attention, someone of most recent worth. Raising his eyes from the dissipating shroud that was his last opponent's corpse was the reincarnation of the Great Demon King, Piccolo. A predatory smile spread across the man who called himself Majunior in their first match since his last life's end. An unnatural excitement bubbled within him, the eagerness to do battle with this fierce warrior. Even as an image in his mind he felt powerful, causing him to raise his Ki to his maximum just as his enemy did within the landscape of his mind.

Losing track of time, he crashed into his foe with the utmost intensity he could muster. Fists, feet, legs, arms, knees, elbows and even heads crashed against each other to perform as much damage as possible. All the while, a synonymous look of pleasure was shared between the two. Amidst the gritting teeth and glares sent through both fighters' eyes, they were enjoying themselves. The yearning to fight the real thing only further propelled him to continue his mock battle. As that happened, his real body seeming to hang in the air motionless while any observant onlooker with proper viewing devices could look up and ponder why there is a person floating in the sky.

* * *

"Ooooooooooh," Bulma rolled over on the bed, feeling an unnatural queasiness she wasn't used to. Blinking her eyes to clear the blurriness in her vision, she felt as much as saw the absence of her husband. Sighing through her nostrils she knew what time it must have been if he was already out and about. Sitting herself up she clung to the sheets as she slipped into nearby bunny slippers to shield her feet from the unwelcome cold.

Shuffling across the room she had to steady herself as another convulsion in her stomach caused her to feel a sudden dizzy spell. Braced against the closet door she had to take a few inhales before calming herself, groaning at the sudden sickness. She remembered last night she was healthy and had no signs of coming down with something. She could only wonder what was causing this bout of nausea.

"_Not to mention this has been reoccurring for the past week, on and off_," Bulma thought groggily as she put on something half decent. Due to today being a weekend she didn't feel pressured on working on any particular project other than reviews for her quantum physics hypothesis. Remembering she left her laptop in the kitchen, she glanced at a mirror where one of her clothing cabinets was.

She had to admire her current look. She had grown out her bangs so it rested over her brows, her hair long enough to frame her face while being neatly kept all the way around her scalp. While it was a little frayed she liked how she could look good even when waking up. Tying her blue robe over her relatively unclothed body, she shuffled out of her room with a yawn till she reached the kitchen.

There she saw her father, already in his lab coat with coffee in his left hand. Smelling the freshly brewed liquid from down the hall made her crave some beaned goodness. Wordlessly she shuffled past her father as he read the newspaper, mostly talk about the weather and local sports teams, missing the turn of his head to notice her not so subtle arrival.

"Morning, Bulma," Dr. Brief greeted his daughter, earning a halfhearted backwards wave as she reached for the pot and began filling up a mug. "How did you sleep?"

"Oh, I slept good alright," Bulma wryly smirked, remembering just how energetic she was with her lover. It brought a blush to her face just thinking about it, but the curdling of her stomach erased any thoughts of good feelings. Moaning out she sipped her coffee gingerly, hoping that her life blood wouldn't be the end of her. "But I think I have some bug in my system..."

"Oh? You have a flu?" Dr. Brief turned around, looking worried but only partially. His casual demeanor often suffered from the ability to project a truly distressed emotion. Still, the feeling wasn't missed, and Bulma shook her head as she kept slurping up her warm mug.

"I dunno. I just woke up feeling queasy and this isn't the first time," She mumbled behind her glass, gulping a quarter of it before waddling her way to sit beside him. Opening up her device she booted it up while rubbing her nose, showing that she was stressed. "Honestly, I don't know what's wrong with me. One moment I'm right as rain, ready to take on the world. Next moment I feel like if I eat or do anything too much I'll keel over and hurl up my insides."

"Huh, that is interesting," The father of one stroked his mustache soberly. Casting a glance at his daughter whom was about to enter her program while sipping on her coffee he had a thought. Grinning he cleared his throat and called out loud. "Panchy! Bulma thinks she's sick with something. Could you lend me your womanly intuition to detect the issue?"

"Dad, I don't think-"

"Now-Now, sweetie. I'm sure your mother may be a bit more knowledgeable as such things. I rarely have gotten sick in my life so perhaps she can advise you on what you have," Dr. Brief gently chided, watching his daughter resign with a roll of her eyes. Smiling at his words having some affect on her, he looked up to see Panchy, dressed like she was cleaning the home interior. "Ah, there you are my dear."

"Of course I am, sweet pea. I live here," Panchy cleverly quipped with a giggle, earning a chuckle from her husband. Lowering her head to look at Bulma, her eyes opened and blinked a few times with surprise. "Well you don't look too spry today. What are ya coming down with, my angel?"

"Ugh," Bulma lowered her head, feeling herself gag at another weird convulsion on her insides. "I...I really don't know. Sometimes, like, for the past week I've been dealing with this weird on and off nausea. I'm great one moment and then totally wishing I was the next. I can't make it out what it is."

"Ohhhhhh," The blonde woman mulled out, now with a twinkling smile on her face.

"What?" The lavender haired girl looked up at her mother dubiously, her hands unconsciously typing on her computer without her eyes ever making contact with the screen.

"Mhm, I think you should test yourself, honey," She implied with a wink, pointing to her belly for emphasis. "Just to be sure, you know?"

Blinking a few times, she tried to process what was said. It only took a handful of seconds before she mentally dissected her mother's words. Blushing fiercely, she let out a barking groan before turning to look at her laptop's screen, "Mom, I'm busy. I doubt it's something like...like that!"

"Oh, then what do you think's been making you ill?" Panchy asked with genuine curiosity.

"Your propensity of being nosy," She muttered under her breath, still steaming at the insinuation her mother made.

"What was that?" She inquired coyly, only making her daughter groan as she flopped her head around in a circle.

"Fine, I'll check myself out if it makes you happy. Can you leave me alone with my coffee now, ma-...ma...hurgh!" Bulma exclaimed after dryly retorting to her mother. Reaching to cover her mouth her face lit up with a very sickly pale color. Pushing off the table she ran sloppily with her slippers past her mother and towards the nearest restroom. When she closed the door behind her, both parents could hear loud retching sounds, causing the mother to cringe while the father just sighed.

"I think it's happening, don't you think?" Dr. Brief vaguely questioned his wife for confirmation.

"Oh yes. I remember being sick like that a long time ago. Poor thing," Panchy shook her head, cupping her hands below her chin.

Flushing the toilet, Bulma busied herself with washing her face, already feeling a bit better now that she had thrown up whatever contents was making her feel sick. Still dizzy, she stared at the mirror after drying her face off. She felt worse than she looked and wished that her man was here to keep her company while going through this.

"_Well, he'll show up sooner or later. His stomach will call him back home after all_," She thought with a sigh, turning around to give herself a shower. Cleaning away the grime of yesterday while warming her body sounded marvelous and she set out to grab some clothes to wear properly. Not even bothering to go towards the kitchen she shuffled to her room and back to the dual-purpose restroom, shutting the door and locking it before she fully undressed and entered the shower.

Feeling the droplets of water soak her voluptuous body's smooth skin felt heavenly and did wonders to cure her of her immediate queasiness. She smiled as her body warmed up with moistened skin and her hair dampened against her scalp. Rubbing her body with a soapy scrubber, she was determined to be as clean as she was inviting to her husband. After all, with his sense of smell, she didn't want to leave any part of her undesirable.

"I wonder what kind of trouble you've gotten into today, Son," She mused out loud as she scrubbed her bosom thoughtfully as her shower continued to wipe away the filth and warm her body.

* * *

"_Whew, that was a workout_," Goku thought out loud to himself, wiping his brow after he had finished his Image Training. He had been so invested with his mock battle that he didn't realize just how high the Sun was at this point. Realizing with a stark few winks before wincing at the glare, he looked down at the city and found himself hissing through his teeth. He knew that he might have spent hours just visualizing a fight but the mental toll was shared to his body.

Before he could wonder what time it was, his stomach growled out like thunder to answer him in kind.

"Haha, I guess it's lunchtime!" He admitted with a laugh, rubbing his belly while scratching the back of his head nervously. Scouring for a good place to spot he looked at an open spot of concrete way down in the city. Knowing practically every angle of the Western Capital like the back of his hand from his time spent 'jogging' through it, he knew that if he got back to the ground he'd know which way back to Capsule Corporation.

Descending downward with as much speed as he launched himself up, Goku arrived at the given spot in what seemed like several heartbeats. With as much control as a dancer would on a floor, his feet didn't make the slightest disturbance on the hardened surface of the street. Standing back to his full height, he looked around to get his proper bearings. Unfortunately all he could see was traffic lights in either direction, with rows of automobiles lining up either way.

It was his most unfortunate timing that the lights were green upon his touchdown back to level ground.

The nightmare began with him narrowly leaping to the side to avoid a Volkswagen from ramming into him outright. Skidding to a halt a semi put on its breaks and veered around, its long trailer spiraling several cars out of control. Back flipping to avoid a sudden motorcyclist from smashing into him, he danced awkwardly around several more min-vans from hitting him entirely.

Jumping high up out of the intersection altogether, he cringed at the sight of the fifteen car pile-up that had vehicles in all sorts of bizarre directions. Landing on the street not but thirty meters away, he sighed with relief. Looking to the side he looked at a jogger who simply gaped at Goku with surprise.

"What?" The martial artist asked the confused pedestrian.

"You just...leaped out of the middle of traffic...like it was nothing," He slowly worded out, swallowing hard with emphasis. Shakily he raised a finger at him with wide blinking eyes. "Are...are you the Champ, Son Goku?"

"Huh? You mean from the Tournament?" Goku asked for clarification, pointing to himself to cement his query.

"It IS you!" The man exclaimed with wonder and realization. After regaining his composure he cleared his throat and leaned closer with a furrowed stare aimed at him. "Why...did you just cause a major vehicle accident?"

"Uh, I just saw somewhere to land and I did," The Turtle Schooler answered lamely with a shrug. "I was just out jogging and getting some exercise. Didn't know I was going to cause any trouble to people."

"Do you always jog in the middle of the street?" The civilian asked blatantly.

"Sure. Why not?" He responded with a nonchalant tilt of his head.

"Because that's where CARS go!" He shouted with arms flailing, almost beside himself with how simpleminded such a celebrity was. Groaning, he leaned back and gestured next to himself. "Ever thought of using the sidewalk? It's much safer."

"Oh. Well, I guess I never thought about using it, haha!" Goku laughed honestly, causing the jogger to fall over on his back with a comedic trip. As an earth-quaking growl emanated from the martial artist's belly, he quickly set his sights for what he believed was the quickest route to Capsule Corp. Getting his directions right by his own senses, he waved at the back laying man and shouted over his shoulder as he took off running. "I'll take what you said in mind. See you around!"

Breaking off at record pacing that outstripped even his swift 'jogging' speed, Goku managed to tear through the air and reach his family's home in a matter of a single minute. The scent of food already wafted through the air as he skipped to the front door. Before he barged in he knew he'd better be polite and at least knock; something that Bulma had been teaching him to do in order to be a bit more 'proper' as she put it.

"Oh, c'mon in!" Cried a familiar voice from the other side, urging Goku to open the door and enter the home of his beautiful wife and her parents.

Goku opened the door, casually walking in. He had to repress a habit to kick off his shoes — when he was living with his grandfather, this was taught to him as polite etiquette. In the Western Capital, it was a tradition many had long since forgotten, and with Bulma always urging Goku to try to adapt to modernized city life, it was another new custom he was struggling to learn.

"Oh, Goku!" Dr. Brief, who had been sitting down in a chair with a cup of coffee and a newspaper, looking over to see his son-in-law casually walk in. As Goku had never been one for coffee, the elderly scientist didn't offer him a cup. "Welcome back, son! Did you have a good run?"

Goku chuckled, briefly remembering the traffic jam he'd caused only a few minutes ago. "Yeah. I wound up causing more trouble than I thought I would, but it's all patched up!"

"Well, that's good to hear," Dr. Brief replied with a musing chuckle, finding this to be a commonplace with living in a household home to the most hyperactive adult he's known. When a gurgling rumble echoed within the kitchen the father of one blinked a few times with disbelief. The sound of Goku's belly rumbling always took him off guard, something he sadly was slowly getting used to with every day. "It sounds like you came home for more than one reason, eh?"

"That's right!" Goku fist pumps, looking around to see no Bulma or 'Bulma's Mom' to cook food. Shrugging, he adapted by going towards the extra-large fridge to dish out a number of tasty easy-to-cook food. Knowing his hunger wouldn't be kept at bay for long he got a number of microwave foods to spread across the vast table, all for himself. Sitting down, he briefly gave thanks before moving his arms and hands in a blur to shove as much food into his open mouth.

The sight was so disconcerting to Dr. Brief, unfortunately being so up close to hear the sloppy slurps and crunches of his son-in-law's eating that made him sweat nervously. A loud belch echoed, followed by a meek apology to which he waved off in dismissal, sighing, he turned to look at the newspaper. When he felt Goku's shadow loom over him, he turned around and leaned back slightly out of surprise, asking Goku curiously with a tilt of his head, "Uh, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Bulma's Dad," Goku began to say, not skipping a beat to ask the question currently occupying his mind, "did you finish that machine you said you were working on? You know, the really strong one!?"

"Well, I did manage to finish a working prototype," The inventor replied, taking a long drag on the cigarette he was smoking. "It should provide a decent sparring partner for you, but listen, there's something I need to tel-!"

For Goku, the rest of the sentence had stopped the moment Dr. Brief said that the prototype would be a 'decent sparring partner'. "Thanks, Bulma's Dad! I'll go test it out right now!"

"Son, wait!" Dr. Brief called after Goku, but by the time he'd looked down the hall, Goku had already vanished. "That boy never stops moving...forget listening to what I had to say, he didn't even ask where the prototype _was_."

* * *

In his haste, the Turtle Schooler almost forgot he was still wearing his work-out clothes. Rushing back to his bedroom to acquire what he considered his "butt-kicking clothes", he made back to Bulma and his living space; to which he was glad was unoccupied at the time of his arrival. Quickly, he unclothed and grabbed his hanging _gi_, quickly putting it on top of his body. Feeling invigorated to test himself, he rushed down the halls and began his search for the place

True to his own lack of direction, Goku circled the estate for what seemed like an hour until he was finally stopped by one of the Capsule Corporation's employees, a secretary who was very confused as to why the husband of Bulma was doing laps around his own home.

"Um, Mr. Son, is there any particular reason you're getting your m-morning exercise h-here of all places?" The woman looked nervously at him; she remembered vividly the damage Goku had caused when he attempted what he called 'image training' on Capsule Corporation grounds. The destruction was horrible, and she couldn't remembering seeing Bulma so irritated with her husband. It wasn't something she wanted to see a repeat of.

"Oh, it's you again!" Goku stopped, jogging in place as he looked at the familiar secretary. "Ms...Ms..."

"Ms. Hisoka!" The woman sighed, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with a thin finger. This was simply something she'd gotten used to; Goku could not remember her name, no matter how many times she reminded him of it. Remember that she wasn't the only victim of this, the young woman simply let it go, but could feel herself subconsciously wishing he'd at least remember half the name.

"That's it!" Goku chuckled, briefly apologizing to the exasperated woman. "Could you tell me where Bulma's dad's robot is?"

Hisoka looked at Goku with a brief expression of confusion, and it took her a few moments to understand precisely what he was asking. "Oh, do you mean the project the President was working on? He did mention something about it being for you..." Hisoka pointed to the left of the sliding glass door they were standing in front of. "Head straight down there, and enter the first building you see. The President mentioned the renovations should be complete; the robot is in its prototype stage. Mr. Son, please try not to destroy it."

There was hidden aggravation in the woman's bellchime voice that Goku didn't notice. With a grin and a word of gratitude, Goku ran off in the direction he was pointed towards.

"How does Mrs. Son put up with him...?" Hisoka sighed as she watched the man go.

Goku wound a corner like a madman, and came across a spherical building, shaped like the Capsule Corporation building, but smaller, and tinted silver with blue highlights. Goku opened the door, walking into the building and was surprised by what he saw. Despite the building not looking like much from the outside, the inside of the building seemed to be much larger than what the exterior seemed capable of holding.

"It's...It's bigger on the inside...!" Goku gaped. The entire interior was wide enough for him to have ample space to train through without feeling constrained. Even if Goku had asked Dr. Brief how this was possible, he knew he wouldn't understand it, and decided it was best to simply stop dwelling on it. When he'd finally stopped taking in the scope of the room, what truly caught Goku's attention was what stood in the center.

Gleaming with a freshly polished hue was a mechanical construct that towered over Goku by a good two feet. Rectangular in shape, the head was rather small, slightly larger than a Dragon Ball, with a red 'eye' in the center, for tracking his movements. It lacked any kind of neck, and the lower body was connected by an elastic tube, which split into two feet, enlarged and clawed. Overall, its build was huge and humanoid; Goku could hardly contain his excitement.

"T-This is it!" Goku walked over to the mecha, walking around it curiously. "Bulma's Dad actually finished it! It looks pretty strong! Now...how do I fire this baby up...?" Walking over to the center, Goku pressed his face towards the 'eye' of the mecha. Within seconds, he hear a rushing sound; gas was being emitted from the arms of the machine, and the eye began to light up.

"_Analyzing...Analyzing...!_" A computerized version of Dr. Brief's voice sounded from the machine.

"Oh! Is it on?!" Goku excitedly stepped an inch back.

A red laser shone from the machine, rising up Goku's body, scanning him from the feet to the tip of his spiky hair. "_Analysis complete! Son Goku presence confirmed. Initiating Battle Mode._" The gas emissions intensified as the robot began to rise; without any warning, the rectangular arms smashed into Goku's chest, catching the martial artist off guard and causing him to stagger back.

"Whoa...!" He coughed, trying to recover from being winded. "That thing is strong but...talk about one heck'uva sucker punch...!" Recovering quickly, Goku's eyes caught the robot rushing towards him. It thrust its arm forward again, and Goku caught the incoming punch with his fist, his eyes wide with surprise. "_H-Holy crap...for such a big robot, it's certainly fast!_"

"Now to counterattack!" Goku pulled the robot in closer, punching it in the center of its metallic torso, letting its "hand" go in time to send it hurtling back. Skidding along the ground, Goku sped up, jumping and slamming his foot into the side of the robot. The force, delayed only briefly, caused the machine to go careening into the wall, causing to crack, but not give, under the weight of the large appliance. As it slid to the ground, Goku noticed the wall was beginning to reconstruct itself.

"Wow! Bulma's Dad is amazing! Now I really can cut loose!"

The robot, to Goku's surprise, managed to haul itself into an upright position despite its large size. "_Initiating counterattack: Propulsion Fist._" The gas erupted from the pistons at the elbow of each arm, and the mechanical monstrosity was pushed forward at a speed Goku couldn't match. The fist collided with man's stomach, racking Goku with pain and causing him to crash hard into the wall opposite him.

Sliding down the quickly repairing wall, the married man got to his feet, grinning. If anything, seeing how strong this robot was only made him more excited.

* * *

Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap

Bulma's finger repeatedly rapped against the table as she stared at her computer's desktop. Looking over to her right shoulder, she could envision the partially open drawer holding the contents she was tempted with. The only thing that could explain her abnormal nausea fits that she's been having so much in such a recent amount of time. Yet, she kept telling herself to ignore the impulse.

"Come on, Bulma. It's just your parents trying to make you think crazy thoughts. It's only been six months, so there really should be no way that you're...it's impossible, right?" Bulma cut herself off as she shook her head, banging her head against an upraised fist. Groaning out loud the stress to turn around and get up from her seat was only fueling her curiosity. "Is it a bad thing to just check? I mean, worst comes out of it is that you're not worrying about anything important. But..if it is..."

Sighing, she thrummed her fingers against her computer, now glaring at the segment in a science news article. It was an update about the anniversary of a once respectable scientist going under ground after spouting some nonsense at a convention demonstration. But the words soon began to change out with another, switching for letters that suggested something entirely different. Most of all, her mind now as more crazed about doing it than earlier.

With a loud wailing moan, Bulma stood up with a huff while slamming her palms on the desk. The rattling top halted when her feet clapped hard against the kitchen tiles. Reaching into the open drawer, she raised up the white tubular device and immediately trudged towards the restroom. Sighing as she closed and locked the door, she whispered to herself, ""Now, to find out the answer to that big question."

* * *

Back in the training room, Goku was locked in combat with the mecha. It wasn't quite to the same level, but he could feel the kind of struggle he hadn't felt since Piccolo. After only a half hour of solid sparring, what Goku had come to realize was this; the machine, while strong, was far better at taking his hits than it was at giving them out. While the martial artist was wearing slightly tattered _gi_ and sporting a few new bruises, the mecha was shining with a raven hue, unmarred by Goku's earlier physical assault.

"Seems like...you're built to last, aren't ya?" Goku grinned, parrying a crushing blow from the robot's rectangular arm. "Then let's see if you can keep up with me!"

With that declaration, Goku grasped his wrist bands slipping them off with a loud thump on the metal flooring below. Kicking off his boots to which they clanked to the ground, followed by his under gi thrown over his shoulder to crash especially heavy behind his ankles. Bare footed and without restraints, he smiled at the robot that continually monitored his figure, ready to assault at any given moment.

Without his weighted training gi to drag him down, Goku was light as a feather. He'd left the weighted portions on at first, holding back his speed as a way of testing the waters, but now it was time to press his advantage. Goku began to move about the room, pushing his speed to the point that he had actively vanished from the view of the naked eye. The room appeared empty except for the robot, but very soon, a repeated_tapping_ noise could be heard echoing around the empty space.

It seemed to be having the desired effect on the machine. With its red eye, the head began to spin on its joint, frantically sending out the laser in multiple directions to try and detect the presence of Goku. However, the robot's scanners couldn't detect something moving faster than the machine itself could process; it outstripped the ability parameters of the mecha.

Goku appeared in front of the machine, with its red eye still looking for him in another direction, and released a flurry of punches with all the speed and force of a cannon shooting cannonballs at the speed of a sub-machine gun. Each and every blow struck the chest region of the robot, five hundred punches hitting within the span of two seconds. On the five hundredth blow, Goku struck _through_ the robot, his fist protruding out the back of it. Removing his fist from the mecha's chest, the machine fell backwards with a crash.

"Whoops..." Goku leaned down, poking the machine, watching it splutter and smoke. "I think I destroyed it...Ms. Hisoka isn't going to be too happy..."

* * *

"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?" Bulma was rapidly pacing in a circle around her living room. Being part of the Capsule Corporation building, the living room itself was exceptionally large, and never had Bulma been more thankful for the walking space than she was right now. "How do I tell him?" She bit her thumb, her face thick with worry. "How do I explain something like this to _Son_?"

This was unprecedented — no, that'd be incorrect to say such a thing — but it wasn't something she was expecting to happen so soon. She and Goku had only been married six months...she didn't know if she was ready for this. Even worse, her parents had been correct; part of her petty attitude made this a difficult pill to swallow. Still pacing, the woman began to mentally play out scenes in her head about how to break the news to her husband. And yet nothing she imagined seemed to be solid; it wasn't something she could wrap her mind around, because this kind of situation was out of Goku's knowledge.

"How do I tell Son...?" Bulma repeated herself.

"Tell me what?"

Bulma jumped, making a noise akin to a startled cat. Looking around, she saw her husband standing there, casually smiling. "O-Oh...! Son! Good morning! How much of that did you h-hear?"

"Only that last bit." The married man grinned, walking over to hug his wife good morning. Bulma halfheartedly returned the embrace, and couldn't help but look at Goku's own innocent smile and form a meek one of her own. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

Looking at Goku's cluelessly smiling face, Bulma knew she was going to have to tell him. It wasn't news she could keep from him for too long — if only because even he would start asking questions eventually — and she took a deep breath, smiling brightly. "I've got fantastic news. I'm pregnant."

* * *

**A/N: **

**Demod: **_Hai guys! Glad to make this update a reality. I loved the parts I got to write in, what with establishing Goku's habit of keeping himself in shape without...you know...abandoning his family, lol. This also gives some nice implications that Goku and Bulma spend plenty of time communicating and intimacy so that they don't really stay apart for too long. The ability to have someone almost cause a car wreck but not think about how unsafe it is to be on the street is something only Goku could accomplish. Anyways, I don't really have much else to add. The Image Training segment and Goku's perception of the world around him as he moves faster than the eye can see were fun bits for myself to write other than poor nauseous Bulma being pestered by her parents. I'll leave the rest in my co-author's capable hands. See ya guys later in December!_

**LastionLover:** _Hello, everyone! It's finally hitting the website — chapter 4 of the Heart of Adventurers. It's so very weird having two ongoing stories, since I have to decide how to divvy up my time. Even working with Mang, these do take me more time than I'm happy with. But the chapter is finally up and I couldn't be happier with that. This chapter was a pretty fun one to do; the first timeskip, and a very brief one too; just six months. Six months into Goku and Bulma's marriage, and we give you guys a nice peek at Goku's morning schedule. Something you may or may not notice is the difference in how Goku is; while Chi-Chi didn't seem to want him to go off and do anything at all, Goku and Bulma have come to a kind of agreement as to how and when Goku can train, to still allow him room to stretch, but also keep their marriage intact. The image training was Demod's idea, and I think it was a brilliant idea (if only to keep him from fighting another Bruce Lee look-alike in the middle of a city), and a nice homage to the manga of Super. The robot was another fun idea, and more or less a jab at The World's Strongest._

As usual, I have a name to explain: just one in this case.

_**Hisoka**__ comes from __秘書 __hisho (secretary), where the character __秘 __can be read as hisoka._

Beyond that, I think this is where the fun truly starts. Bulma is pregnant and Goku is going to have to cope with the life of a married man and fatherhood in an entirely different manner than he did in the canon series. How will he pull it off? Well, you guys'll have to wait for chapter five to find that out! Also, not sure how often I mention it, but give thanks to our friend Firegod00 for proofreading and editing this thing before we put it up. This truly is a three-person show.


	5. The Expected Day

**The Heart of the Adventurers**

**By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, Edited by Firegod00**

**Chapter 5 - The Expected Day**

* * *

**Last time, on Dragon Ball Heart of the Adventurers**: Over the course of half a year, the newlywed Son Goku and Bulma continue their lives under the roof of her family's home as Capsule Corp HQ. Goku tests out prototypes of Dr. Briefs creation when he isn't busy working out in the mornings while Bulma busied herself in research and theoretical projects of her own. But one day changed it all, one of which through a relapsing nausea foretold a happening that came sooner than either husband or wife could predict. Bulma was pregnant with Goku's child.

And the Adventure continues!

* * *

Bulma was beside herself. Stuck in a hospital bed she wasn't able to pick up her laptop and work on her projects like she had in the last few months. Working through pregnancy wasn't easy but she was far too stubborn to listen to either of her parents, let alone her own sister whenever she got in contact with her to tell her the news. The only one aloof to her current trials was her husband, whom took the news not out of shock and apprehension as some men would, but as matter-of-fact. He was eager to meet his child, wondering who he or she'd be like.

It was a comforting thought, as she laid back in her bed to think how maternal he could be in his own simplistic way. The only relevant relationship he had before meeting her was his adopted grandfather, Gohan. It made sense to her why he chose to return to that old hut. It was the place where he felt safe and had true family. Here, she hoped that he could have that same security here where he'd always come back to whenever he felt lost.

Looking out the open window, she recalled about another one of their talks she forced him to bear through. It was nearing the time where she was becoming less mobile and they were having less time to see each other as a result. His go-to attitude was endearing and she loved that spirit about him not being able to sit still for too long. But there was something he had to realize if he was going to become used to being a father. A matter of responsibility and she only knew one way he could learn about that.

* * *

"EH?! You want me to...to..."

"Yes, Son! I want you to get a job!" Bulma exclaimed as she leaned back on her chair, wincing slightly at the strain her back was having. She was significantly more labored in her movements as it had been approximately five and a half months since she conceived by the doctor's count. Due to her own industrious work ethic that collaborated with Goku's own loose yet methodical manner of spending time with her father or exercising, she knew change was on the horizon that he needed to be braced for.

"But...really?" Goku asked with a bewildered expression, scratching his head as he looked at her with disinterest. "I never had to get one of those before. Can I not-?"

"No, this is something you need," She sighed out with aggravation, massaging her temples as she felt her temper flared up. The rising hormones definitely didn't help her composure, making her less reasonable in her everyday life. It didn't help to convince her partner either, but she knew this was too important to overlook.

"Am I going to go hungry if I don't?" He asked with a furrow of his brows.

"You MIGHT if you tempt me!" Bulma shrieked, causing the latter to back up with raised arms to defend himself. Realizing what she did, she groaned as she rolled her eyes and looked back at her laptop screen. Closing it with a defined click of submission, she turned her wheeled seat around so she could look up at not just her husband, but her dearest friend. "Son, we're not going to be able to live as we do for too long. Things need to change in order for you to understand what life like a family is going to be. Otherwise, things will be awkward and we won't be able to treat each other with love and respect as we ought to."

"I know things will change...but," Goku turned to look at the kitchen, and then glanced back at the window outside. He could hear the birds chirping with his sharpened senses, as well smell the fresh aroma of the interior place he called home. Things seemed to be more natural here, with how he done everything in such a routine manner. Looking back at Bulma sheepishly in an honest manner, he finished his reply. "Is a job that important for this?"

"It is," Bulma reasoned while reaching out to grasp Goku's hand. Smiling as she felt his grip tighten around hers firmly, her eyes met his. "It's not a matter that you need an income for stability but that you need to be less carefree about important things. When our baby comes into this world, he or she will need a father that will be there for her. I know you're not used to following a direct schedule, even now with the freedom I want you to have. But this will be a child who will need me and my parents as much as he or she'll need you, if not more. Having a job is a step in the right direction, to show you are dependable and rooted in a place you can always come back to. It will be nice preparation for when our child is ready to look up to you and with pride in who they are."

"Or she," Goku quipped with a giddy laugh and a smirk.

"At this point, I'd be happy to just meet our little troublemaker," Bulma sighed out loud, leaning back into her seat while keeping her firm grip on her husband's hand. When she felt a sudden lurch come from within, she let out a gasp and smiled. While rubbing her swollen belly hidden beneath her teal colored maternity undershirt she looked up at her partner's curious expression. "Want to feel?"

"Uh, sure," He replied apprehensively, having not received this invitation before. Experience with pregnant women was little in the Turtle Schooler's history. Given that Kami didn't even sought to tell him of the process of childbirth or conception made him think it wasn't important. But now, as he was guided by his wife's hand to rub over her belly, something strange and overwhelming came over him from within.

He felt a little life squirm within Bulma, one that he helped conceive.

"Whoa," Goku gasped out, blinking with surprise as he bent down to examine what he now knew was a living person inside of the woman's belly. Feeling kicks and movement within, he let out a small laugh, joined by Bulma at her seeing the soon-to-be father's reactions. Leaning forward to press his ear against navel, he could definitely hear not one but two heartbeats. The odd case of thumps and shakes within told him of the life waiting to meet the world. "I can hear 'em. I can hear 'em inside of you!"

"Yes, isn't it amazing?" Bulma asked with a gleeful expression. With Goku nodding as he kept his head against her belly, she could tell he looked extremely happy. Cocking a head to her side she queried aloud. "What's gotten you so worked up?"

"I just...I didn't realize...how happy I'd be to hear such noises before," He answered with a gradual yet thoughtful answer as he turned his face to look up from his squatting posture to her seated one. Reaching out to grasp her hands firmly, his smile turned into a serious expression. "I'll make 'em proud, Bulma! I want our child to look to me whenever he-she needs me and to grow up to be as smart as you or as strong as dad. And I won't let you or our kid down!"

Awestruck by his conviction, Bulma couldn't help but be moved to tears. When Goku tried to comfort her, worried that she was somehow in pain which only caused her to laugh. She was now convinced more and more that things will turn out fine. Sooner or later, he'd find out what it'd really mean to be responsible which will undoubtedly help him better become the father their child needed.

* * *

"I can't believe it's been almost four months since then," Bulma sighed, realizing just how close to the time it really was now than it was then. It was why under the advisement of his father and mother that she was moved to Wukong Hospital, a proud institution of medicine and care for its patients. Placed in a room on the 5th floor she had a window view of the city and the building's front lot connecting to the main streets filled with busying vehicles.

"Has it really?" She jumped, suddenly turning to look at her father's form just standing outside of the door. In exchange for the smoke-free environment he was now holding a mug of hot coffee. He had all but put his projects on hold for the week she was put on watch in the institution. They said it could happen at any time and that it was better she was here in case the unexpected happened. The mustached father of one smiled softly as he joined her with a wheeled seat by her bedside. "Time sure flies when you're hard at work."

"Especially for Son, right Dad?" Bulma asked her father with a wry grin that earned a chuckle from the older gentleman.

"True. I didn't think it could be done at first," He paused, sipping some of his coffee before exhaling with satisfaction. Returning her blissful gaze with a nostalgic stare of his own. "I did all I could to give him recommendations and fit him with any job I could. He also did his best to sound proper though it sounded a bit too wooden or stilted when he tried to get a 'businessman' trade. So I tried simpler ones and asked him to be himself, consequences be damned. I was about to give up but that odd request came by when he and I were making our way out of the employment office."

"He was one of the drivers almost caught in a...er, accident, right?" She guessed sheepishly, ultimately knowing that her husband's workouts often led him into some unwanted trouble.

"Yes, but who knew that'd lead him to working in a Pizza Delivery position?" He inquired with an almost exasperated wave of his free hand. "I tried to get him through the orderly way, but it was his own haphazard habits that he was able to get a highly recommended position. While he did need to work on some of his basic mathematics - that I helped tutor him mind you - he was quick to get a great grasp of the job."

"I hear he's the best delivery man they have and people always request a _Goku Special _if they want their order in a _Extra Timely Fashion_," Bulma accentuated with both fingers at the designated words, making her snicker at the thought of how Goku had become more than a Martial Arts' icon but now the face of expeditious resteraunt deliver service. It made her surprised as she was proud how quickly he latched onto the trade.

"Well he is quick on his feet," Dr. Brief huffed as he took another long sip of his coffee. "That man...he still puts the rounds on my best prototypes. Even the ones now are still able to last more than a handful of minutes still lack the power supply to match his _ki_. Perhaps if I reach out to some of the other scientists I can collaborate on some theoretical prospects of new engines that could make a superior combat machine. One that could even put the likes of that nefarious Piccolo in his place."

"That'd be a comforting thought if the answer to our problems was just a Capsule away," Bulma joked again, before briefly wincing at a series of kicks in her abdomen. When her father reached out to comfort her, she shook her head and rubbed her belly. "It was just the baby's kicking. I'd know the difference between knowing a desire to come out and just wanting to be rowdy."

"Heh, I guess the child will be a chip off the old blocks," He mentioned with a point of his mug-holding hand. "I'm wondering just how the to-be father will react seeing a mini-him running around."

"If things were only that easy for him," She rolled her eyes, turning to look out the window once more. The feeling of longing the presence of her jubilous husband was more intense than it had been in the last few months. She wished he'd be here, telling her jokes and talking about what trouble he got into. Such a reassuring aura he seemed to have that told her everything would be alright.

Now, more than ever, she wanted to have that feeling so she could willfully birth this child without any fear or doubts in her mind.

"_I'll be waiting for you, Son_," She thought with a smile as she looked back at her round belly with an anxious eagerness. "_And so will our baby_."

* * *

Goku was really feeling it. In his trusty red and black uniform complete with a hat to hide his funky hair to which he almost felt like Yamcha, he raced with a large heat-sustaining bag of pizzas under his left arm. His body was moving like a blur across the vast cityscape with his destination being one of the office buildings on the other side of the city. It was just one of the many deliveries he's made since starting the day and he already felt accomplished with how many surprised faces he got to see whenever he rang, knocked or in some cases hopped through an open window.

If he wasn't known before by the World Martial Arts Tournament, he was now publicly known by everyone in West City. He took the time when he wasn't running at breakneck speed compared to any athlete to what was only part of his maximum velocity to wave at passersby and drivers alike who knew him. While he could barely remember a quarter of the names he knew their faces and he was kind enough to wave hello whenever he saw them.

It was a unique experience for the martial artist; having grown up alone deep in the mountains, even now, seeing so many people was so shocking. Back when he was a child, he'd only heard stories of the cities from his grandfather, and even though he'd been around the world with Bulma and his friends, the amount of people in cities still caught him off guard.

His time as a newlywed husband, however, was serving as a kind of training of its own in the city; Goku felt vibrations in the air, and on pure instinct, felt his body leap into the air as a car rushed directly under his figure.

One of the problems with being able to run as fast as most of the automobiles, if not faster? The drivers hardly saw Goku in the road, and he had been the cause of many traffic jams due to nearly being hit. However, as he adjusted to the cars, they seemed to adjust to him as well, and these were a thing of the past. As the man ran along the road, holding the bag of pizzas under his arm, a blaring noise caught his ears. Jumping high onto one of the buildings, Goku saw the source of the disturbance.

Speeding along the road, apparently entirely out of control, was a hovercar. Goku didn't recognize the model — it was one of the newest in the Silver Star line of automobiles — but that didn't matter. Making wide leaps, carefully keeping the pies at his side intact, Goku crossed several buildings until the speeding car was within his sight. "_It's going so fast...if it doesn't slow down, it's gonna hit someone!_" Sliding down the building, Goku propelled himself from the wall, letting flight take over as _ki_ was emitted from his entire body to tell gravity that it simply wasn't welcome anymore.

Moving airborne across the cityscape, Goku quickly overtook the speeding vehicle, descending rapidly onto the ground and spinning around. His eyes took in the entirety form of the automobile, and he extended a single hand towards the oncoming car. Metal met flesh; grounding himself into the asphalt, Goku applied enough force into the car to keep himself from being pushed back. The vehicle ground to a halt, an adult-size hand imprint now decorating the hood as the driver stepped out, looking entirely worse for wear.

"T-Thank you..." The man breathed, gasping as if he'd run a mile. When he looked up, it had taken him only a moment to recognize the innocent face and hair protruding from under the hat. "Oh! It's you, Goku! You saved me!?"

Goku grinned, half-sheepishly, half-proudly. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, thanks to you," the young man dusted himself off. "It looks like the break lines were cut...I wound up running several red lights for the past few blocks, I thought I was going to die!"

"Cars aren't really my speed, but I think that's probably something you should check," Goku said, and looked down at his watch. "Oh shoot! Sorry, gotta run!" Waving at the man, Goku made off down the road at breakneck speeds again, the pizzas still warm beneath his arm. To the man he had saved, this was a moment to remember; to Goku, this was a daily routine.

Navigating his way through the city, Goku wove around buildings faster than the the normal eye could track. However, all of Goku's senses were working full drive, and his ears picked up a rattling sound in the distance. While he wasn't always familiar with it, Goku had come to recognize this as the sound of bullets being fired from a gun in the distance.

He knew he had a choice. Looking at this wristwatch, the digital timer told him he had approximately half an hour to get to his destination and deliver these pizzas. However, the rattling sound told him that someone was in trouble and he could get there quickly if he moved at top speed. Bouncing from building to building, Goku grinned to himself; he hadn't moved this fast since he'd fought Tenshinhan at the Tenkaichi Budōkai.

How long ago that had been.

As the pizza deliveryman closed in on the source of the noise, the rattling turned into explosions — gunshots at close range, enhanced by Goku's exceptional hearing. Slowing to a stop, Goku saw the source of the disturbance; two armed robbers leading an assault on the Western Capital's bank. The criminals were pressed against the bank's yellow brick walls, one of them holding a machine gun and firing directly towards the police, who were hiding behind their cars.

"D-Dammit!" One of the police, a bespectacled woman wearing glasses, growled. "We're outgunned!

The other officer with her looked equally panicked, clutching his standard issue pistol. "We have to wait it out, Kei!"

This was a sight Goku had seen a few times before since he'd started working as the local pizza deliveryman, and it almost always managed to impede his deliveries. It wasn't in his nature to play hero — however, his training with God had given him a sense of right from wrong, so he at least knew when he should step in. Setting the pizzas down next to a stoplight on the sidewalk, Goku vanished, flickering out of being to anyone who saw him...

...only to flicker back into physical form directly in front of the police car. Bullets filled his vision as Goku's reflexes took over; his hand instinctively leapt out for the speeding metal projectiles. While they felt hot in his hand, Goku was unharmed. The gunfire stopped abruptly, as the criminals realized exactly who had interrupted their attack.

"I-It's Goku!" The cry came from both the criminals and the police, a tone of worry and exuberance from the appropriate party.

With the flick of the wrist, Goku sent one of the bullets flying back at the criminals; with his strength, the bullet tore through the machine gun being held by one of the burlier criminals, who dropped the weapon and moved swiftly to the side in a panic.

"W-Why you...!" The other criminal held up his pistol, aiming towards Goku. However, before he could even fire the bullet, Goku had crossed the distance between them, his elbow making contact with the criminal's stomach. The man's eyes went back into his head as the air forcibly left his body. Turning on his heel, Goku extended a hand, releasing a pressure wave towards the other criminal, knocking them unconscious as well.

Once they were sure the danger had passed, the police, Kei and the unnamed younger man, nervously stepped out from behind their car, looking wary. When their eyes fell across the unconscious criminals, they heaved a sigh of relief in unison. Taking out handcuffs, the officers cuffed the inert offenders, Kei looked up at Goku, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"I don't know what to say, Goku," She smiled. "You've had to help us out again. The Western Capital PD is going to lose its reputation if we keep having to be bailed out by everyone's favorite pizza deliveryman...regardless, thanks for lending us a hand again!"

"Anytime," Goku replied, happy to have been of some assistance. Glancing at his watch, he saw his time was still ticking. Bidding the officers a farewell, unsecured the load next to the stoplight, and took off again. Knowing his time was being pushed, and the customer wouldn't pay if he was late, he began to emit _ki_ from his body again, taking off on the spot, to the surprise of the onlooking officers.

* * *

Despite the general length of the city, and Goku's inexperience with flight — as he still preferred grounded methods of transportation, even while fighting — he managed to arrive in less than ten minutes. Landing neatly onto the ground, he touched down at the front door of his destination: the Western Capital Elementary School. The end of the school year was rearing its head, and on the western side of the continent, it was common for teachers to buy students pizza and other treats to celebrate the end of the year.

As Goku entered the front door, he was greeted cheerfully by one of the women at the front desk. "Goku! You made it!" Glancing at the clock, she noticed the time. "And you still managed to be early, if only a little." Chuckling, she asked, "Let me guess, did you get held up again?"

Grinning, Goku nodded sheepishly. "It seems like every other day, there's something to keep me occupied. But I managed to make it here on time! No harm, no foul, right?"

"Of course," replied the woman from behind the desk, flashing a winning smile. After checking the contents of the boxes — which, despite the misadventures Goku had managed to get into on the way, were surprisingly intact — she paid him the requisite amount of Zeni for his trouble. Taking the heat-sustaining bag with him, Goku left the building, pleased with a job well done.

An upbeat, energetic theme began to blare from the man's pocket. Fumbling through it, he pulled out a flip-phone. When he got a job, Bulma had suggested he at least get a basic model cellular phone, to make communicating easier. Flipping the phone open gently, so as to not break it, he looked at the Caller ID.

_Bulma's Dad_ it read in large letters. It was his father-in-law.

"_Now...how do I get this thing to work...?_" Goku looked at the device as it continued to blast music directly at him. "_I think I just press this green button and..._" Pressing the button, he held the phone to his ear, speaking into the receiver as he'd been told. "Hello? Bulma's Dad?"

"_Son, one of these days, I'd really appreciate it if you'd call me Dad yourself_," came the voice of the elderly gentlemen through the phone, fascinating Goku to no end. "_But that's a nonissue right now! You need to hurry back to the hospital; Bulma's gone into labour!_"

"Labour...?" Goku repeated in confusion.

"_Concisely explained? She's starting to give birth! Your child is on the way!_"

This was something that even Goku could understand, and the realization hit him quick. "OH! I'll be there soon! Just let me get across the town, I'll be there in a few!"

"_Hurry, Son!_" was Dr. Brief's last words as Goku hung up the phone, beginning to take flight once more, with only one thought in his head.

"_I'm going to be a father!_"

* * *

**A/N**:

**Demod20: **_Whew! I know it's been awhile folks but we're finally here. Sorry if this is both a month late and a bit short for us but this is really meant as a platform for the next chapter which will be a lot more sizable than this one. That and, the last month was a lot more arduous for the both of us so we decided to just take it off as a holiday span for both of us. Expect to see us back in March with a fresh new Chapter and more energy than ever! That and I hope you enjoyed this update regardless of length._

**LastationLover5000**: _So, I'm so sorry for this chapter coming out as late as we did. I know we said it'd be a bi-monthly release schedule, but December and November tend to take their toll on you. As far as work went, the end of the year destroyed me, and even my main story suffered just a little bit. This chapter, while short, serves as a nice segue, I believe, into the next chapter, which I'm sure you guys will find much more enjoyable than this. Looking over this chapter, I really do love this story; showcasing a kind, loving relationship between Bulma and Goku. It makes me feel nice._

_So, yes. Goku is a pizza deliveryman. Demod and I decided he would have to get a job, but we couldn't see Goku holding down something like a deskjob, so we had to think; what job can Goku do and not get fired from on his first day? We settled on pizza deliveryman because we knew Goku would like a job that lets him be outside and stretch his muscles a bit, and I think it works out well for him._

_One final note before I end the author's note? The police officer, Kei? Her name comes from fukei (婦警), the Japanese word for a policewoman. I do hope you guys will enjoy the upcoming next chapter! The real game-changers are on their way!_


	6. Our Family

**The Heart of the Adventurers**

**By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, Edited by Firegod00**

**Chapter 6 - Our Family**

* * *

**Last Time On Dragon Ball The Heart of The Adventurers**: _As Bulma reminisces the past as her pregnancy eventually bedridden her in the Western Capital's Wukong Hospital, Son Goku continues to prove his reputation as best pizza deliveryman in his hometown. From halting evildoers to saving passerby, the World Martial Arts Champion does all he could. It wasn't until one fateful day that Bulma went into labor and the alleged hero of the Earth was informed._

_And the Adventure continues!_

* * *

It was a bit frantic in the hospital since Bulma had underwent labor. The nurses were busy to shuffle out Dr. Brief from the room to which he complied if only to call his wife to tell her the news as well. In the time it took for Panchy to arrive through the latter afternoon traffic, Goku was already huffing and puffing on foot to reach the hospital. Having leaped up to the window upon hearing his wife's screams echo the medical establishment, the doctor and nurses tried to tell him to leave them be. In between labored breaths and wails she was crying tears of joy at feeling her Son grip her hand after pushing past the medical staff with ease.

Taking some heavy convincing by Dr. Brief that he should wait outside, Goku left Bulma's side hesitantly as he was escorted by his father-in-law to wait outside. The hours spent out echoed with impatience which his beloved's parents acted a bit too calm for his liking. Every time a nurse exited or entered, he'd ask about her only to be stone-walled and fervently.

"Darn, what's taking so long?" Goku asked out loud, taking time to look at the windowless door with a worried frown. "Is Bulma going to be alright?"

"Oh don't worry about our little girl," Panchy waved nonchalantly, eyeing a book she had brought for the wait. "If it's her first time so don't be surprised that it could take half a day. Goodness knows it did for me when I gave birth to her."

"H-Half a day?!" The Turtle Schooler let out a stuttering cry of disbelief, turning back to look with dish saucer sized eyes. "It takes that long?!"

"Well, not everyone is the same," His father-in-law commented with a wave of his coffee mug. "It could take an extraordinarily shorter time. Considering how strong of both will and body your wife is, it's quite possible it could be any minute for her."

"You make a good point, Bulma's dad," Goku nodded with blinking eyes of understanding.

Sighing, the mustache adorned scientist grumbled into his mug about not being called simply 'dad' as he sipped more of his beverage. Looking back up from his cup he couldn't help but notice the thoughtful expression he had while looking down at his feet. Finishing with his drink, he cleared his throat and earned his wide-eyed stare back, "Something on your mind, son?"

"I just...I thought if I was here I could help out somehow, y'know?" The Martial Artist explained with a half smile. Crossing his arms he looked slightly down once more as he continued to talk, his smile dissipating. "But now, I just don't think I can. I feel helpless. I normally can find an easy answer. But now that I can't I just feel...feel..."

"Lost? Frustrated? Useless?" The older man asked, surprising the grandson of Gohan with an almost gawking expression. Chuckling he set the mug on his lap, holding it with both hands as he thrummed against its smooth surface with his fingers. "You may think I'm a brilliant man, which you're not far off. But I haven't a clue when it comes to the human reproductive process. You couldn't get me within the same room as your mother otherwise I'd keel over and I hated it.

"But, being unable to do something doesn't mean you're useless or weak, Goku," Looking up with a heartfelt smile, mirrored by his own partner whose eyes shined hopefully at her son-in-law. "Not everyone can shoot beams from their hands, defy gravity or withstand the power of a nuclear bomb. Just like you can't do anything to help Bulma, she can do things you most likely couldn't overcome. Programming a computer, writing an essay about complex bio-mechanics and researching quantum physics. Those are her specialities. She may never be able to fight like you or you may never learn to how to use a computer; not that I fault either of you for trying. If never succeed in something well...that probably means you're meant to specialize in something else.

"That, my boy," He finished with a wink as he pointed his mug at Son Goku. "Is nothing to be ashamed of. Failure is the sign that success is just around the corner."

Absorbing what Dr. Brief had said to him the Champion of Earth took to heart what was told to him. He knew that most of the time what Bulma's father had to say it usually was important. And considering his own self loathing for not being able to do something for someone he cared about he knew it was better than to cast it aside.

"_I know I'm not that smart_," He acknowledged silently with a smile, his eyes gaining a new light of determination than before. "_But I'll do something that can help. If I can be a good dad for our kid that's probably the best place to start_."

Just then, the door opened causing all three to look over with a mixture of surprised stares. Instead of immediately ducking away from the spiky haired man's gaze the nurse in question looked with a since of resigned relief. Clapping his hands, he finally gave the family the news.

"Your wife and daughter are fine, Mr. Son," He declared with a look of clear exhaustion.

"Daughter?" Goku mumbled out, briefly surprised at the news. It wasn't that he was expecting a son. It was the sound of a child belonging to him really sunk in. He didn't know what to think but, remembering the feeling of kicks within Bulma and the smile she wore he couldn't help but find himself smiling with a foreign welling of emotion in his chest. Reaching out to grab the nurse's shoulders, he couldn't suppress a wide grin as he asked him again. "I have a daughter?!"

"Yes, Mr. Son," The hospital worker sighed with exasperation, forcing a smile as he nodded to the stronger man's arms. "Now can you please let me go?"

"Oh, sorry!" He exclaimed with a sheepish laugh, not noticing the smaller man's wincing and rubbing his now sore body.

"This is wonderful news!" Dr. Brief broke any tension the situation may have had, standing upright with his wife as the both of them were smile almost as broadly as Goku had been. Looking to the grimacing nurse he gestured to him with a smile. "Can we see our girls?"

"Huh? Oh, sure," He nodded after realizing what the now grandfather meant. "Right this way, Dr. Brief."

Leading the three into the room where a number of tired and exasperated hospital personnel were working on clearing the space of tools and used equipment. But there, next to a mustache adorned doctor in a white coat of his own was Bulma. She was reclined on the hospital bed looking sweaty and very tired. But still there was a tearful smile on her face as she held a sparely lavender haired baby swaddled in white linen. Lavender colored tresses covered her head and dark onyx eyes that blinked slowly, absorbing all of the new sights as much as the rest of the child's senses could pick up.

And sure enough, a brown furred tail was stretched out at the bottom of the wrapped form, curling and wagging gently.

"I asked the missus already," The Doctor began as he cleared his throat, looking to Goku as he stared entranced by the appendage he had removed by Kami long ago. "After determining this isn't a health hazard to the child and that it isn't an abnormality I thought to ask. Did you have any plans on letting the child grow up with a tail?"

"Well," Goku scratched his head thoughtfully. "Truth be told, I didn't lose mine till I was quite a bit older. Plus it'll make her grow big and strong. I'm sure she'll be fine with it."

"Very well then," He replied with a begrudging sigh, finding it to be abnormal for a relatively human looking baby to have what belonged to most anthro-born citizens.

"Hey, Son," Bulma finally spoke up, earning stare from her husband. Nuzzling into her daughter's neck as a weary smile adorned her face. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"She sure looks like a keeper, just like her mom," Goku complimented, earning a twinkling stare of thanks from his wife. Leaning forward he reached out towards the girl, waving to her as he lowered his voice respectfully. "Hi, my name's Goku. How are ya?"

The baby simply giggled and made a gurgling noise. Reaching out with a hand she bopped her dad's nose, squeezing it before letting go with a childish laugh. When she found that Goku laughed back and poked her slightly in the nose, she let out a sneeze and laughed again.

"Certainly a giddy one," He commented with a goofy giggle of his own.

"She was screaming something fierce when she came into my arms," Bulma replied with a mischievous grin as she raised a brow at Goku. "Reminds me of someone I know."

"I don't scream all that time," Goku deflected with a pouty expression.

"You scream a lot," She countered with a wry smile.

"Only when I'm fighting," He argued further.

Another giggle let out by their child broke their little feud, drawing attention once again back to their newborn girl.

"I've been thinking of names," Bulma drawled out, hesitantly looking up at Goku with apprehension. "But, I'm not sure any of our family type would be fitting."

"Well, I actually am kinda stumped about that," Goku honestly responded, looking at the little girl's tail with fascination. "I mean, the only name I'd think of using is Gohan cause he was my grandpa and I think he'd like having someone named after him. But since this is a girl, I'm not sure how that'd sound..."

"Mom, dad," Bulma called out for them, allowing for the spectating grandparents to step forward. "We were trying to think of a name, but we couldn't think of any that fit. Any family names that'd work?'

"Oh, well," Dr. Brief looked up at the ceiling, stroking his chin before raising his empty mug with afterthought. "How about, Kini?"

Shaking her head, Bulma looked at her mom whom replied with a shrug, "Why not, Trunks?"

"Not a bad one for a boy, but," The mother replied as she bit on her lower lip with thought.

"We could name her after food," Goku suggested with a sheepish smile.

"Now's not the time for jokes, son," Dr. Brief piped in a forced serious stare, suppressing his own urge to laugh at Goku's naive comment.

"Wait a minute," Bulma exclaimed, realizing that her husband's innocent suggestion had gave her the perfect name. Looking down at the little girl cooing in her arms, she looked over at her beloved. "We may not be able to name her Gohan, but, how about Pan?"

It was a simple name but Goku was a simple kind of guy. Hearing that sounded just right and it made him grin with approval.

"Want to hold your daughter, Pan?" Bulma asked with a sigh.

"Uh, sure," Goku blinked with confusion but readied acceptance. After Dr. Brief helped come to show him how to properly hold an infant, the infant was properly transferred straight into his arms. Holding her delicately, he looked wondrous awe at the small life he held in his arms. He could imagine how weak and fragile he must have been when Gohan had nursed him back to health, the day he had struck his head as he had been told. It just gave him so much appreciation to his deceased grandfather, showing him kindness and care so that he could pass it on to another.

So, with a smile, he whispered at his giggling daughter, "Nice to meet you, Pan. I'm your dad. I'll make sure to do my best as your father. That's my promise to you."

* * *

**Age 758, December 5th**

A deep wailing could be heard in the night. Goku's adept sense of hearing couldn't let him rest as much as he yearned for it. It had been a hard day of work-outs after what he called a nightmare of orders from the pizza place he worked at. Even after spending time with Pan in between he became increasingly aware in the last half year of living with their daughter that there was one inherent truth.

Babies were incredibly needy.

"Son," Bulma mumbled as she turned over on her side to face his back. "It's your turn to feed Pan."

"What if I don't wanna?" Goku grumbled back.

"Son," She repeated with a tired yet clearly stern tone. "I got so much work in between parenting that you have no idea."

"But, your dad's robots actually wore me out today," He whined back, turning to give her a pouting over the shoulder stare. "Plus, pizza deliverin' had a lot for me to do today. I even played with Pan a whole lot."

"Which is fine," Bulma commented, forcing a smile onto her weary features. "And I'm grateful. But there is a difference between play and needs. Pan needs someone to take care of her and I can't be the one to do it every time."

Letting out a raspberry, Goku rolled over exasperatedly; so much so, that he fell off the bed with an awkward yelping thud. The distant wails of their child could be heard but Goku couldn't help but marvel at his own clumsiness. With a groan he stood up, his protesting muscles aching but still moving of his own accord.

"A promise is still a promise after all," He reminded himself quietly, tromping out of the bedroom so his wife could get her much needed rest.

Walking barefoot with nothing but a sleeveless muscle shirt and orange boxer shorts, the temperature inside favorable compared to outdoors. With dim lighting he traversed down the walkway to Pan's room he caught sight of a window to his immediate right. Snow had begun to fall this Winter unlike last year, where the Spring got the cold and vice versa. Unlike his home at Mount Paozu there didn't seem to be a consistency of weather where he lived.

It didn't bother him, since inside was so toasty warm so he just took the sight in stride. Opening the door into Pan's room he took in the view with slight wonder. With a crib slid against the far side of the wall, wallpaper enamored the room of sweeping hills and a mountain with a lake positioned near the door exiting the baby girl's living space. Cabinets of white with stickers of golden clouds covered it, reminding him of Kintoun. Approaching her crib, he looked in and see the crying Pan shaking a stuffed monkey in her arms; one that had a red cap and shirt on it.

"Hey there, champ," Goku patronized the whimpering girl, reaching down to pick up the girl carefully into his arms. Even though she was far more durable than the average child he still wanted to be safe. Doing a thorough sweep of her person in case she needed to be changed or had a rash, the father of one sighed with relief. "Bulma is right. You are just hungry. I guess you are a lot like me, haha!"

Slapping him with the stuffed animal in the face, he saw her blubber with an unhappy expression. He didn't know if he was rebuked by his daughter for making that comment or if she just didn't care what he had to say. Only one thing was on her mind; something that was echoed by a gurgling rumble coming from her tummy.

"Okay, let's get you some food," He declared with an upbeat tone, trying to make the best of the situation despite his own desire for sleep. "And by you, I mean only you. Your mom was awfully mad that one time she caught me eating a lot when I just gave you one bottle. I'll hold back, just for you."

The cranky baby just let out another pained cry, not wanting anything but her bottle. Through a short trod the spiky haired father reached the kitchen and found it mostly abandoned. Holding her steadily he reached for the light switch and turned it on, knowing exactly where to go. Opening the fridge he got one of the formula bottles, pre-cleaned and filled by his lovely wife, to make it easier for him to manage. Months of help with the process had made it easier but still difficult.

Especially when it came to the microwave.

Looking at the numbers on the electronic device with a furrowed gaze, he slowly reached for one of the buttons but recoiled it. The blustering baby under one arm made it difficult to concentrate but he eventually found a button that had a familiar button; one that was the 'right one' as he was told by Bulma's dad and Bulma respectively.

Clicking it, he watched microwave light up and reveal a golden glow. One that didn't have the formula inside.

"Oh Crap! Oh geeze!" He exclaimed, looking around frantically for the formula as Pan continued to wail near his ears. As soon as he did a complete 360, he found the bottle was right it was supposed to be.

Just below the wall mounted microwave on the counter.

"Phew," Goku sighed with relief, hitting the easy to read 'Cancel' button and the latch to open the complex machine. Placing it upright he smiled with success as he closed it and then hit the appropriate button. In what felt like an eternity the microwave finally chimed as the contents was ready. Grasping the lukewarm bottle he had almost handed it straight to the needy child until he remembered to test it.

Knowing one arm was occupied holding his daughter and the other was holding the bottle only one thing made sense; use what's available.

Sticking out his tongue, he squeezed the bottle gingerly enough to let a few drops of the microwaved substance drop onto his taste buds. Whatever it was, it sure didn't taste like milk, causing him to sputter and cough. It didn't burn him, which was good, but he didn't like having to rely on his precious body part.

The result however, had made Pan giggle at the silly sight, halting her screams if only for a few moments.

"Yeah, I make funny faces when I don't like something, don't I?" He laughed in concurrence at his own actions. Lowering the formula so that Pan's little hands could grasp it, he held back just enough so that she wouldn't choke. As the process dragged on, he couldn't help but admire her growing hunger. She did this multiple times a day and she wasn't even a year old. "One of these days you're going to eat and eat and eat and wonder if you'll ever get full. Sometimes I wonder that myself, haha! So drink up, Pan. Grow up big and strong. One day you may be as strong as me, haha!"

Unknown to him, a pair of watchful blue eyes peered around the corner of the hall to stare into the kitchen. A smile spread across her tired features, finding joy in watching Goku take to his roll as a father nicely. The first few months were full of doubt and uncertainty, both of them trying to balance their lives around a very special person. But with the help of her own parents along with some trial and error, they found a way and she couldn't be more pleased with the results.

"You're doing just fine, Son," She whispered, turning to creep back into her room before her husband returned.

* * *

**Age 760, June 5th**

Today was Pan's second birthday.

Bulma couldn't believe how far away since her eventful trip to Mount Paozu to rekindle an old bond with Goku; one that blossomed into a relationship far more meaningful than she anticipated. More surprising was how the day of their child's birth had coincided to be on that exact day, as if it was fated to show they were meant to be together.

Given how rushed the last birthday celebration was, between the couple almost forgetting their special girl's big milestone in her short life, she intended for this year to be more special.

With a belated sigh, she leaned back in her lab chair, her lavender hair all a static mess due to her overnight work. Looking down at the toddler she had sitting in her lap she was so hopeful. She had talks with Goku about the future often, mostly about what their daughter should do with her life. Naturally her husband was enthusiastic about the prospect of training her so she'd be a strong fighter. On the other hand, she also wanted her to be schooled to use that smart gene that ran through her father's blood that she had undoubtedly inherited. But as the tail curled behind Pan's specially designed pants, she wasn't sure exactly what kind of path she'd take.

She just hoped that she could help her daughter make the right decisions.

Hearing a beeping come from a watch wrapped around her right wrist, she checked the time. It was mid-afternoon and knowing her husband he'd be home in less than fifteen minutes. Ten tops.

"Knowing him he'll try to get that special bundle of pies because it is Pan's big day," She dryly said to herself with forced quotation marks with her free hand.

"I 'ike pie!" The two year old exclaimed with a smile.

"Yes, I know you do," Bulma responded to her daughter, tickling her tummy with a grin. "You make a wonderful mess with that pizza slice, didn't you?"

"I eat it all!" She said proudly in between giggles.

"You're a very hungry little girl, aren't ya?" She asked as she persisted in her innocent torture of her child. It wasn't until the toddler was out of breath that she finally picked her daughter up in her arms to start preparations; that is, help out with it given her mother hadn't given up the housewife duties she did around the home. It had made mothering a lot easier when either of them were around not to mention give them tips on what to do and not do.

So it was to no surprise when she entered the kitchen that the scent of a baking cake, with Pancy cleaning at the sink.

"Hi mom," Bulma greeted her mother with a smile.

"Hello sweetie," Panchy called from the sink, her hands already washing the utensils and bowl she used. "I'm sorry but I'm in the middle of clean-up. Wanna help set up the table for me, sweet pea?"

"Sure thing. Let me set Pan down," Bulma she replied, setting the birthday toddler onto her bare feet. Having learned to walk quicker than she kept track, she pointed at the mischievious daughter of hers and sternly said. "Now remember don't go too far and don't touch what doesn't belong to you. You'll be getting gifts soon so be patient. Got it?"

"I got it," Pan smiled sweetly as she sang her confirmation.

"That's my girl," Bulma complimented as she gave her standing kid a hug. Releasing her she and the toddler went opposite directions with completely different objectives. As far as the mother was concerned, she needed to help set everything up for a legitimate yet compact birthday celebration. The company didn't need to get involved until a larger celebration took place after all.

Wiping down the table she hummed to herself a song about a dinosaur riding a ball, making sure to grab the birthday mat over the hardwood surface. Placing the plates for Goku, herself and Pan she got out cutlery for only herself and her husband. At this point she didn't expect Pan to rely or use a fork, spoon or chopsticks till she was a little older given how she messily has eaten with nothing but bare hands lately.

Something she will try to rectify in the near future.

By the time she finished, she looked down at her watch and noticed it was just about time for her Son to come home. Taking a quick skip towards her mother she now embraced the woman whom was relieved of an apron and had set the cake on the stove.

"Thank you so much for baking the cake, mom," The lavender haired woman said with a relieved smile, taking note of the decorations made on the delicious smelling pastry. It was mostly frosted by red with blue edging surrounding it, yellow words saying 'Happy Birthday Second Birthday Pan!' etched onto the surface. She loved how homely it looked but also colorful, reminding her of her husband's Turtle School's uniform.

"Oh it's nothing, darling," She waved off as she pulled away from her daughter. "I do nothing and I'd shrivel up like a prune. Plus, this is for my lovely granddaughter so I'll work extra hard just for her."

"It helps, more than you know," Bulma sighed as she stroked her own messy hair with resignation. "I forgot to spruce up. Dammit, I wanted to look a little presentable."

"You look fine, sweetie," Panchy reassured her girl. "Why, you look just as great as you did yesterday!"

"That's because this is yesterday's clothes," Bulma grumbled out with a wry smile. "But you'd say that anyways, wouldn't you?"

"Honey, we're never going to keep looking our best. But you still look great because you put effort into what you do. When someone stops trying, they don't look that hot, do they?" The blonde commented with a rare wink.

"You still surprise me, mom," Bulma laughed, taken aback by the grain of wisdom she heard her mom say.

"That's what your father says, but I still think he's the one who surprises me. Always tinkering, always thinking, always up to something," She commented with an expressive wave of her hand. A thought suddenly dawned in her head as she looked over Bulma's shoulder and then around the kitchen. "Speaking of someone is probably up to something, where's adorable little Pan?"

At hearing that question, Bulma couldn't help but retract her pleased expression. Instead it was replaced by a mortified one when she heard a cacophony of alarmed yells coming down the hall. Immediately rushing out of the kitchen she saw some workers burst from the clearing, some seeming putting out fires on their lab coats.

"What's going on?" Bulma asked the nearest lab assistant.

"It's...you...no time!" He exclaimed with heavy pants, pointing towards the hall with a silhouette of a shadow with a tail. "It's coming for us!"

For a brief moment her heart stopped. The shadow brought back horrible memories of that monster, something she had wished to forget. It etched into her mind so much that she had done all she could to keep Pan from looking at the Full Moon. From keeping the window out of reach to doing everything she could to make Pan stay inside when Full Moons came by. But the logical part of her was triggered when a mischievious laugh broke out.

"Tag! Tag! Tag! Yer all it! Buahahahahahaha!" Pan turned around the corner, wielding what looked like a small white cylinder with an armrest and handle. Vapor came off the end with an ozone smelling blue glow escaping it. Her eyes recognized it instantly as her portable laser gun she had built as a child.

"First," She grabbed the collar of the worker whose name was now visible on his coat. "Chikiru. That is my daughter, not an IT!"

"But I-!"

"Second," She continued to let out a shrill yell as she pointed at the not laughing Pan but a scared one. "HOW DID YOU LET MY DAUGHTER INTO THE LAB?! THAT THING WAS IN STORAGE?! HOW CAN YOU FAIL ON SO MANY LEVELS?!"

"Th-The alarms were on maintenance so we thought to-"

"Leave the doors all unlocked?! ARE YOU STUPID?!" Bulma screamed with the presence of a giant, causing the man to cower while her daughter sweat bullets. The sound of a doorbell broke what tension was held in the hall as the fleeing workers came back with fire extinguishers and other emergency equipment; now especially since Pan wasn't opening fire on any more of them or the facility.

"That's him," She muttered as she let go of the man, sweeping her palm over her face as she walked over to her daughter who had a too sweet smile. Her hands were scratching nervously at her sides but void of the blaster she stole. But given she was much taller than her, the sight of her fourth appendage holding onto it behind her back was quite noticeably. Reaching out, she frowned at her girl. "Hand it over, Pan."

Her face dropped when she realized that the jig was up. Her face fell as her tail swung the item around into her arms. Sadly walking up to her with big teary eyes she held up the gun she made as a child, almost seeing a reflection of herself; minus the tail and onyx eyes of course.

"Pan, that's not a toy," Bulma sternly scolded her, reaching down to take it out of the birthday girl's hands. "You should know better than to take things like that. What did I just say?"

"Sowwy mama," Pan apologized, her tail fallen and curling around her ankles just as her hands folded in front of her.

"Terrorizing the staff isn't a good thing," The mother of one implored softly, hearing once again the doorbell ring outside. Kneeling down she nudged her chin to have her look up at her. "But I'll let it go. You're a birthday girl so enjoy your day. Next time this happens though, I'll come up something very scary as punishment. Understand?"

"Uh-huh," The toddler nodded fervently.

"Okay, c'mere," She insisted with a smile, pulling the little girl into a hug with the blaster still in hand. Noticing the tail rise up as a result of her mood being improved she couldn't help but grin at the sight. Releasing her, she wiped away the tears and thumbed over to the door. "C'mon. Let's go let your dad in."

Walking with the toddler following behind, she saw something that looked like furious motion just outside the front door. Rolling her eyes, she walked up to the knob and turned it, swinging it open to reveal Goku with ten pizza boxes. Nine of which were completely empty and discarded to his side, the other held up as a sheepishly chuckling spikey haird man.

"Sorry, I got hungry," He apologized outright, with Bulma just wryly smiling.

"I'm sure," His wife sighed with expectancy. "Not that I thought you were going to split that evenly, but couldn't you have waited till you got inside, Son?"

"Papa!" Pan cried out as she hugged her dad's leg.

"Heya!" Goku waved down at his daughter, reaching down to muss her slightly raised lavender tresses. "How's my champ doin'?"

"Good! Nothin' bad hap'nd!" She proclaimed with a mischievious giggle.

"Oh really?" The father of one asked with a dubious raised brow. Looking up at Bulma who simply shrugged with a lopsided smile she turned to look down at her special girl. "If nothin' bad happened, then let's go have pie-cake! Your favorite combo!"

"Awesome!" She squealed with delight, taking off towards the kitchen faster than either could track.

Letting a whistle out, Goku turned embrace his wife, both exchange a brief kiss before parting, "What did I miss?"

"Oh nothing. Just our little monster just rampaging with my old blaster," She motioned with a turn of her head, watching distantly as the last of the scorched marks were being cleaned up by Capsule Corp employees. "Thankfully, no one got hurt and nothing important was damaged. Better than the time she almost activated one of your Sparring Partners, as dad calls them."

"Oh boy, that was a close call," He laughed sheepishly, scratching his chin at remembering that. Ever since their girl could start walking, she had begun invading anywhere she pleased. The levels of delight she seemed to have was on par with the horrified reactions she got from the staff and family, almost on the borders of a mad scientist. Something both began to understand where it came from.

"Yeah, I let her off easy cause it's her birthday," Bulma shrugged with a guilty grin. "I'm so weak. It's hard to punish someone with such big eyes and pulls off such a sad expression. She looked so crushed that I couldn't do more than simply give her a good talking."

"Ah, well, I probably would've done the same," Goku responded waved nonchalantly with his free hand.

"Yes, but that was because this is a special day. You'd do that on any other day plus today," She turned with an accusing stare. "Be a little more strict with her. It'll become a bad habit if you keep this up and she'll start coming to you if she thinks bad ol' mom is persecuting her."

"Ah-okay, I'll try," He half recoiled, half nodded with a nervous smile.

Any further talk was broken up by a delighted yell.

"BRTHDAY CAKE, YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

"Let's go before she makes a mess of it," Bulma resigned with a shake of her head. Grabbing the pizza box out of his hand, she pulled him just before closing the door with her foot. As she held the pizza and opened it, she revealed the pie that Pan liked; meat lovers and all. "Look what dad got!"

"PIE! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Pan enthusiastically raised her hands up and cheered. "I 'ove brthdays!"

"This is only your second, kiddo," Goku piped in with a wink aimed at Bulma. "Only more to come, right?"

"Of course," She said as she smiled at her small tike. "So many more."

* * *

**Age 762, August 7th**

**Mount Paozu, Early Saturday Morning**

Early in the morning, with the sun gazing firmly over the trees that were scattered across the abandoned mountain, Goku and Pan were making ample use of the wilderness for their own benefit. When Pan had turned three, she had began to take an interest in where her Papa went whenever he wasn't on the job delivering pizza, and had soon found training — which she had begun to call "play-fighting" — to be something she enjoyed.

At Goku's insistence, and once Bulma had been relatively sure that it would not harm their daughter in any way, he had begun giving his daughter training sessions. Nothing quite so strenuous as what the venerable Muten Rōshi had put him through, as he would save that for later. Merely enough to get the young girl into fighting shape and get her muscles forming.

And the easiest way to get Pan into it was to turn it into a game of tag.

"Papa wait for me!" The lavender-haired toddler called out. Despite her young age, she was already well suited for running, even though she looked like the average four year old child. "I have little legs!" Having inherited her mother's intelligence, the young girl's speech had improved considerably around the age of three-and-a-half.

Laughing, the proud father kept running further ahead. "It wouldn't be a game of tag if I let you catch me, would it?"

"B-But...!" Pan objected, tears forming in her onyx eyes. She clenched her fists, puffing out her cheeks and her tail spiked in irritation. "Papa's too fast, it's not fair!"

Goku couldn't help but laugh in spite of himself. And yet his laughter vanished when he felt something hit him with the force of a small truck; in a split second, Pan had vanished, and quickly embedded her head in her father's stomach like a missile, winding Goku and sending him spiraling backwards, Pan in tow.

Coughing as he pulled himself upright, he looked at the now smiling girl sitting in his lap.

"Papa! You're _it_ now!"

"P-Pan!?" Goku blinked, still inhaling deeply from that winding blow. "What just...?"

"What what, Papa?" Pan blinked, her wide black eyes looking confused. "I tagged you!"

"I know that, but how did you get here so quickly? You were over by that tree just a second ago..."

Pan tilted her head, her spiky lavender hair, so much like her father's, and yet vividly coloured like her mother's, moved with her. "I dunno. I just wanted to tag you, and I did it! Now you chase me, Papa!"

"I think that's enough tag for now, Pan," replied the father, sitting up as his daughter slid to the ground, looking mildly upset. "Why don't we try something different? A new game! Has Papa taken you fishing yet?"

"Nuh-uh!" Pan's unhappiness was immediately offset by her father suggesting they play something different.

* * *

Having been led to a small cliff by her father, Goku had explained how the game would work. He would dive into the water and lure a fish out, and it would be Pan's job to catch it, thereby securing the father and daughter pair their lunch for the day. Almost eagerly, the four-year old was standing at the side of the cliff; having her father's natural curiosity, she peered over the edge, looking down into the sparkling waters.

Down below, she could see subtle distortions in the surface of the water as her father swam beneath the lake, trying to startle the largest fish he could find. Any minute now, she'd be greeted by the sight of a breaching fish. The young girl's monkey-like tail was practically wagging in excitement.

The water began to ripple, and sure enough, there was a small eruption of water, and the large form of a blue-bodied fish flew high into the air. It was one of the larger fish in the lake, a Paozu tuna. The creature flew straight into the air, towards the cliff-side. Pan, ever ready, crouched and leapt, landing a solid kick to the side of the fish, knocking it unconscious with her surprising strength.

Its eyes whiting out, the fish fell back towards the lake, only for Goku to fly up and catch the creature, holding its limp body against his shirtless torso. Laughing, the proud father flashed a thumbs up at Pan, who danced with pride at her accomplishment. Landing neatly onto the cliff-side, Goku shook the water off his body and slipped back into his standard fighting _gi_, which he had discarded down to his shorts for ease of swimming.

"We did it, Papa!" Pan crowed, leaping into the air. "We got a big one!"

"We sure did, champ! Now, let's sit down and cook this baby!"

The duo made walked further from the edge of the cliff, and Goku quickly set up lumber with which they could use for cooking, employing his _ki_ to light it aflame. As the flame would take some time before it became hot enough to cook anything, Goku set the large tuna up against it, staked into the ground, and began to casually chat with Pan.

"So, kiddo, how's school treatin' ya?"

"I like it!" replied the girl simply, leaning forward to poke the fish. "But preschool is really boring. Mama's taught me how to write, and she's already started to teach me mathematics! So she wants to have me go up a grade!"

"Oh yeah, your mother was pretty good at all this school stuff..." Goku remembered, if only vaguely, how Bulma explained that she had graduated from university at age sixteen, before their very first Dragon Ball hunt. Ruffling Pan's spiky head, he grinned. "Looks like you've got your Mama's smarts; guess it runs in her family! Who knows, you might become a scientist like your Mama."

"But I want to be strong like you are, Papa!" replied the girl earnestly. "I like play-fighting and I want to be as big, fast and tough like you are!"

"You can do both," said Goku. "My teacher told me something when I was training with him. Something about how a martial artist needs to train their mind and their body. I failed in that first part, but the long and short of it is, your Mama's got the right idea; so if you listen to both of us, you might even become stronger than I am!"

With Pan's goal firmly set, the two continued to chat idly. The fire eventually reached the necessary cooking heat, and as soon as the fish was cooked, the duo began to dig in. Despite his never ending stomach, Goku gave the largest share of the fish to Pan, who took it happily. The girl had Goku's appetite, and despite the fact that she was just a toddler, she ate as ravenously as he.

"That was yummy, Papa!" crowed Pan as they set the bones of the large fish aside, and her father snuffed out the flames.

"I bet it was, kiddo," replied Goku. "Say, should we head on back? Your Mama's gonna be worried if we're out here too late." Turning to the sky, he was about to call towards the clouds, but thought better of it. "Why don't you do it this time, Pan?"

Her onyx eyes sparkling with excitement, Pan turned to the sky, her tail swishing in the air. "KINTO'UN!"

Pan's voice echoed across the sky, and there was a familiar whirring sound as one of the many clouds seemed to be given life, dashing down from the fathomless sky towards the strange looking pair. The cloud was golden in colour, trailing a tail behind it. The cloud settled next to its master, Goku, and Pan looked at it with utmost eagerness. The innocent girl clambered onto the cloud, hugging it and pulling at the fluffy construct.

"C'mon, Papa! Get on it!"

Goku followed his daughter's lead, sitting onto the cloud which he'd owned since he was a young child. Pan climbed onto her father's back, wring her arms around his neck.

"Go, Kinto'un! Go!"

At Pan's insistence, the cloud began to take off, hurtling them into the air and away from Mount Paozu. As they flew, Goku spared an aside glance to his former house, the hut that belonged to his grandfather, Gohan. After giving it his brief farewells until he came back again, the cloud pushed them forward towards the Western Capital. Kinto'un flew them over forests and plains until the new scenery of the city-scape came into view.

Capsule Corporation came into view, and Pan eagerly directed the Somersault Cloud towards her home. Making a sharp left, the cloud began a long descent, and they landed neatly outside the automatic glass door of Capsule Corporation. Sliding off the cloud, the two landed on the grass lawn outside, and Pan jumped down from her perch on her father's shoulder.

"Let's go find Mama!" She urged, and pulled her father by the hand; leading him straight through the door, Goku waved cheerfully to the secretary, who pointed Goku in the direction of the conference room. It seemed she already knew that the man was looking for Bulma.

Walking towards another automatic glass door, Goku's acute hearing could pick up his wife's voice even when the door was closed — and it sounded like she was very happy.

"—well, of course! No, it has been awhile! I should be able to arrange that; but I'm married now, you know that, right? ...I know, I'm sorry for not sending you an invitation, but I wanted to make it a quick, quiet service!"

Goku and Pan looked at each other, then at Bulma, who was speaking quickly into a corded telephone. They'd never heard her chat so animatedly over the phone with anyone; most of her calls were usually business calls. Furthermore, the sight of a telephone had recently begun to irritate the young woman, as she had begun teaching Goku the finer points of using one.

One of the most memorable attempts ended with him holding the receiver an arm's length away, attempting to shout into the phone.

"Yeah, no problem!" She continued speaking, looking up at her beloved family and motioning them over, but at the same time to be silent so she could hear. "We've been meaning to plan a little get together anyway, so I don't see why we can't bring you with us! Sure! Alright, I'll see you then!" Smiling, the woman hung up the phone.

"So...who was that?" inquired Goku, voicing his confusion.

"Oh, that?" Bulma gestured to the telephone. "That was a telephone call from my older sister, Tights!"

"You have a sister?" Goku blinked, evidently confused. This was the first he'd heard of it; something he quickly voiced.

"Well, she doesn't keep in touch as often as she ought to," shrugged the lavender-haired woman, her jumpsuit moving with her shoulders. "But we get along really great when she's around; she's a novelist, you see. Her expertise is science-fiction, but I think she's been considering expanding her horizons, and because of that, she wants to meet all of my friends!"

"But why us?"

"I suppose all of the antics involving Piccolo and the Tenkaichi Budōkai reached her ears and got her novelist's blood boiling," replied Bulma airily. "I know it's not much of science-fiction, but her first ever novel, _Space Patrol Chako_, was a dud, and her second novel, _Jiya!_, received only modest sales. So I think she's considering looking into martial arts as her next inspiration."

Goku, not being the quickest on the uptake, was having difficulty putting two and two together, and Bulma sighed, placing a thin finger to her husband's forehead.

"_So_, I'm going to call Muten Rōshi, and the others, and we'll have a big 'ol reunion at Kame House!" Her tone was excited as she explained her grand plan to Goku. "Think about it, Son, we haven't seen our friends in a few years — barring the poor incident with Yamcha — and I think it'd be nice for us to have a good meet up. And you, Pan, you can meet everyone your Mama and Papa went on adventures with years ago, and your Aunt Tights too!"

"Yay!" Pan's eyes glimmered, less at the thought of meeting new people and more at the word "adventures". However, it was obvious she would be happy no matter where her parents were taking it, and her monkey-like tail swished behind her. "I can see everyone!"

"_A big 'ol meetin', eh?_" Goku thought to himself. "_It's been awhile since we've seen everyone. I wonder how Kuririn's been holding up all these years?_"

* * *

**Sol System, Outside the Asteroid Belt**

As the Son family chatted and spoke about their impending joyous reunion with their comrades, in the deep reaches of outer space, there was a stirring. Past Jupiter, a ship rocketed through the solar system, it's inhabitant focused on one thing and one thing only.

The little blue planet.

Earth.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Demod20: **_Wow, sorry guys for the late update (don't worry, your May Update will still be planned...not promised, but planned, haha!) but we got it out and I had a lot of fun writing this Chapter. Maybe too much fun but, hey, my co-author has been pretty busy with the Erased Chronicles (unashamed Plug-In here) so I thought to give him a break ^^. I liked detailing how Goku and Bulma each had their trials of parenthood and how both of them dealt with it in their own way. Though personally I loved my co-author's section the best if only because how freakin' adorable Pan is as a 4 year old. Can't wait to see how the next Chapter turns out!_

**LastationLover5000: **_And the chapter is done! I'm sorry to everyone who loves this story and thinks we don't update it enough, I really am! But I'm working on the Erased Chronicles, and Mang has his own stories as well, but we try our hardest and now this chapter is finally up! We've been wanting to do this one for awhile; everyone thought their kid was gonna be Gohan, but NOPE! Pan, everyone! The pun should be obvious; Pan, for bread, but also it carries over her mother's name, "Pan", as it "panties". Yes, classic Toriyama. This chapter had some tie-ins to the Jaco the Galactic Patrolman that I rather enjoyed; for starters, Pan finding her mother's blaster, which Bulma invented at age 5. Tights is another inclusion. So yes, this story considers Dragon Ball Minus canon; I'm sorry to anyone who liked the Bardock special. Furthermore, to anyone questioning Pan's improved speech capabilities at age four...at age five, her mother was arguing theoretical physics with Dr. Brief. I'm pretty sure Pan is mild compared to that!_

_The end of the chapter is one of my favorite parts. A mystery arrival, coming in from outer space!? The plot is finally about to rear it's head, everyone, so get ready for this story to entirely change the timeline of Dragon Ball!_


	7. Arrival from Outer Space

**The Heart of the Adventurers**

**By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, edited by Firegod00**

**Chapter 7 - Arrival from Outer Space**

* * *

**Last Time On Dragon Ball The Heart of The Adventurers**: Over four years have passed since young Pan was born and brought into the young couple's lives. Forever changed they forced themselves to adapt in order to be the best parents they could to their daughter. From waking up late at night to feed her, to correcting her mistakes and disciplining her they also spent time making her laugh and enjoy life to the fullest. After enjoying a playful bout between father and daughter, the young tailed girl had surprised him with a burst of speed he hadn't expected. Arriving back at home they'd find Bulma planning a reunion of their old friends along with her distant sister, Tights. What will this return of old faces and the arrival of Bulma's sibling bring? Find out, now!

* * *

When Yamcha got the call, he knew he had to let bygones be bygones. It had been over four years since he last saw his ex and Goku, enough time for his old grudge to be let go. During that time he kept himself proactive within the sports community, earning himself a reputation as a star athlete. Even apart from that he took up training in his spare time not even making good on the offers of many pretty ladies that he would have died getting attention from. He was a new man and he aimed to prove it at this little gathering.

From the call he got, Bulma was surprisingly mellow and didn't hold an ounce of sarcasm. The fact she went out of her way to personally call him with the invitation instead of any other means lifted his spirits. They were good friends even before they dated so he was happy to revisit her and some old faces. Among that he was told was good old Kuririn, the Turtle Hermit Muten Rōshi, Oolong and Bulma's sister. Not to mention, she informed, that she had a toddler coming with.

"_Man, this is going to be a little harder than I figured it'd be_," The scar-faced man thought as he drove his Capsule Corp aerial sports car. Emblazoned with red and black, with the license plate reading "TAITANS" on it he drove across the oceanic horizon. As the sea unfurled beneath the sleek vehicle his eyes furrowed behind his dark shades. Even Puar, buckled next to him in the convertible, could tell he was in deep thought. "_Will I freak seeing a kid that could have been mine? Will I keep my cool and just play it off? Focus, Yamcha! You're here to make amends and have a good time. This isn't the time to be worrying_!"

"You alright, Yamcha?" His Changeling pal asked from his side.

Smiling, he laughed out nervously as he kept his hands on the wheel, "Me? I'm great, fantastic, wonderful, amazing! Definitely all the above and not at all nervous going to see my ex and my friend I tried to beat up in the middle of a wedding! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"...so, that's a no," Puar dryly replied.

Biting his tongue, he kept himself silent and didn't lash out. Instead he vaguely tilted his head in his direction as he picked up the island in the horizon; they'd be there in minutes, "You ever had that feeling where you're going somewhere yet you had a nightmare about it the night before and gave you an incredibly bad omen?"

"Uh...maybe?" His partner weakly inquired with a shrug of his furry shoulders.

"I'm having that in spades. I just...feel like I'm going to screw up, or that Bulma will forget she even invited me," He frowned, huffing as his mouth formed a pouting expression. "And what if Goku's mad at me?"

"Goku never stays mad at anyone," Puar reassured him with a beaming smile. "He even forgave Piccolo, so I'm sure he'll forgive you."

"...somehow, I'm not sure how that's supposed to make me feel better," He weakly slouched forward on the wheel.

"It'll be alright," He encouraged with a nod. "After all, Bulma wouldn't have invited you if she didn't want you to be there. And Goku's nice to all of his friends. I'm sure he doesn't think any less of you for what you did back then."

It was one of the reasons why Yamcha liked having Puar around. Better than the empty silence of doubting or overthinking things, someone like the changeling could easily make him see the bright light at the end of a dark tunnel. While his stomach was still full of knots, they felt less tense and a smile genuinely emerged on his face. A bit of confidence sparked in him and he gave Puar a thumb's up to him.

"Thanks buddy, I think I feel better now," He told his partner in crime and life.

As they approached the island, it looked like only the turtle presided on the beach with no vehicles to speak of. He was relieved he didn't have to barrel straight into a zone of unpredictable discomfort so the parking was done smoothly. Placing the car over to the side, not knowing if Bulma was bringing one of her vehicles he thought about all the potential hazards that'd come with it. A click of a button later with a poof of smoke, he packaged the Capsule into his pocket.

Yamcha didn't dress up too much. He had a simple short-sleeved jacket with the Taitans logo on the back, green with yellow trim and black letters on its back. With a white tank top revealed from his unbutton front he wore a simple pair of blue jeans with sports shoes. Walking alongside his floating companion, he greeted the turtle with a wave and entered the open doorway.

"Hey guys!" He greeted with a broad smile.

"Ah, Yamcha! Been awhile," Muten Rōshi, the Turtle Hermit Sage openly met him from the middle of the floor. He was in the middle of watching what looked like a wrestling competition. He couldn't tell who was who but the one with a blonde dutch cut seemed to be winning with a wicked grappel. Turning his shade adorned eyes back to the television, he began to shake his beer filled mug as the tank top, cargo shorts and sock wearing martial arts master berated the screen. "Come on! Don't lose to that pretender! No! NOOOOOO!"

"_And that's it! The winner goes to the legendary John Cena_!"

"Oh that's just typical," Rōshi growled as he drowned his misery with large gulps of his mug's contents.

"So," Yamcha awkwardly broke the tension as he scratched his hair covered neck, looking around. "Is anybody else he-..."

He was stopped in his tracks. The sight of something beautiful and foreign made his thoughts drag to a halt and his heart beat increase by three fold. There sitting on the far cushion of the U shaped red seated couch was a woman. Not just any woman but a very cute one at that.

She was typing on a laptop positioned over her legs, brown square lens glasses reflecting the text and images she was working on. Chestnut hair covered her head, designed in a braided plait that hung over her left shoulder; complemented by hazel eyes with a freckled soft complexion under the eyes with a fair skin tone. Her clothes were modest, that of a red over white cardigan-skirt top with the skirt being blue with dark colored stockings fastened down to her feet, not wearing the current slippers. Lithe in the right places while generously proportioned enough to make him forget about Bulma, she was cute and gorgeous in the scar faced man's eyes.

Almost as if she felt him staring at her did the young woman turn and look up with a slight smile, "Hi."

"Uhhhh, h-hi?" Yamcha asked sheepishly, feeling himself redden in the cheeks and down the neck. Scratching his chin he followed up with an equally inspiring line. "W-What's your name?"

"Kashiko," She replied with a grin. Adjusting her glasses she tilted her head to the side and inquired. "Are you here for the reunion party too?"

"Uh...yeah! Yes I am, haha!" He nervously laughed, much to Puar's embarrassment. When he calmed down he thought it better to ask. "So...do you know someone who invited you here?"

"Mhm," The brunette replied with a smiling nod.

"Uh," The raven long haired man began to gulp, stepping forward to ask hesitantly. "A-Are...are you...uh...s-single?"

"What?" The bespectacled woman asked with a forward lean, letting her glasses slide teasingly down her nose; just so her light brown eyes could stare back at his. "Are you flirting with me?"

"Uh, m-maybe?" Yamcha weakly asked. "Is that a yes to the single thing?"

Stifling a laugh, she covered her face as she pulled back and giggled into it. While Yamcha blinked owlishly, he turned just as the sound of the fridge had closed in the kitchen. Coming out with a pair of cooled cans of soda was a dwarf of a man with no nose to speak of with six dots aligned on his forehead. Wearing a white tee with a pair of gym shorts, he tromped in barefooted to slide up next to her laughing self.

When she composed herself, she accepted the can and gestured to Kuririn with tearing eyes, "I'm sorry, I just...um...Kuririn is my boyfriend."

Yamcha couldn't help but fall over with utter embarrassment and flabbergasted disbelief. Not as a disservice to his friend and comrade, he just never viewed the Orin monk as a real ladies man. The fact that he got not only a girlfriend but an attractive cute one was something beyond his understanding.

As Puar patted his back, the ex-bandit weakly propped himself on his hands and knees to look stupified at the pair, "How?! How did you two become a thing?!"

"It was more of luck, actually," Kuririn shrugged lamely, opening his can to sip it before continuing his explanation. "I was on my way to a job interview cause...well, I rather not end up like Oolong and live off of Rōshi's good will like some couch potatoe-"

"Hey! I pay rent! I can snack on all the chips as much as I want!" Oolong called out from the kitchen, making the changeling pal of Yamcha face palm.

"-but I wanted to strike out on my own, seeing that Goku went back to settle down," The shorter man continued, walking over to reach out a hand with a smile. Taking it, Yamcha was helped to his feet while nodding back at Kashiko who simply blushed and smiled back at him. "You see, we were both riding the same train and she recognized me from the Tenkaichi Budōkai. We got to talking and it just happened that she helps market for competitions like the Tournament, not to mention she's an enthusiast for martial arts in general. You can hardly make her go far from her office without bringing her laptop to keep herself busy."

"Idle hands are not productive ones, Kuririn!" She chirped proudly as she clicked a few more buttons on the laptop, returning her attention once she finished another task.

"Thing is, she actually came onto me," Kuririn whispered, making Yamcha gawk with shock. Nodding with addendum he waved his hands with summary. "Turns out, other than her coworkers, she doesn't get to see many people because of her job. She was feeling lonely so we shared a few cups of coffee while we talked. Then it became lunches, then dinners, and then you can see we're pretty inseparable now."

"Huh, wow," The taller martial artist blinked, grinning sheepishly over at Kashiko and then at Kuririn. "Y-Yeah, it probably isn't a good time for me to date anyways. Bulma and I kinda broke up a few years ago."

"Is that so? Bulma never mentioned that on the phone," The Orin monk stated with a look of surprise on his face. Scratching his chin he chuckled nervously as he replied. "Gee, sorry man. It must have been tough coping all on your own."

"I wasn't alone," Yamcha smiled, looking over and fist bumping his hovering feline compatriot. "Puar is always with me. He made it a bit more bearable."

"Mhm! We're stuck with each other no matter what!" The changeling insisted with gusto.

As the pair laughed, Kuririn heard the timer echo within the kitchen. At this moment Kashiko chose to close her laptop and head in that direction.

"The others will be here soon. I'll make sure the food is all in the oven and ready for them," She insisted with a smile over her shoulder.

"I'll help set up the tables and get the side dishes ready," Kuririn hurried as he called after his girlfriend. The pair began talking animatedly as they put distance between them and the Turtle Hermit with his former disciple. It was pretty clear to the ex-bandit that they were very much a pair meant for each other and that they both cared for one another. He envied that kind of relationship but forced himself to not dwell on himself in pity.

Instead, he looked to the Turtle Hermit and asked, "So, what have you been up to?"

For a moment, Muten Rōshi sputtered his drink and looked over with blinking eyes behind his shades. Coughing he chukled and waved his hand, "Me? I-I've been up to nothing! Just me and my tube with my booz and guilty pleasures. That's all!"

"O-kay," Yamcha tilted his head, not buying the act but not wanting to pry. Sighing he looked over at the TV and noticed it had switched from wrestling to an exercise channel. Predictably of many girls in tight clothing for the perverted elder to ogle at. Rolling his eyes he motioned to Puar as he headed outside of the house. "I'm going to get some exercise in until they arrive. I'll holler when I see them."

"Can do!" Rōshi called out as the door closed shut. With a weary exhale he walked over to sit on the couch as he watched the channel a bit more soberly than expected. A wry grin fixed on his face belying his true actions in the past few years. "It's not time...not yet, I suppose."

* * *

"Son! Are you ready? My sister will be here any minute!" Bulma called out as her lab coat swished across her frame. She had just done running some more calculations on some project she was working on at the time but just realized the time not but an hour ago. They were probably going to be late just because she knew her estranged sibling had a thing of taking her time as well. Her quick call was only left with a modified answering machine that told her she was on the way.

For her, it was just typical of Tights to act this way.

Sighing, she trudged through the corridor till it hooked around to the open kitchen. With no sight of Goku there she quizzically turned to look down the hall. There she saw the door open and the sound of a pair of voices not far away.

Pursing her lips, she exhaled through her nostrils and raised her voice once again, "SON GOKU!"

"AH! Sorry!" He replied from the door, sticking his head out from his daughter's bedroom with a nervous smile. "We're almost ready."

"You're just changing into clothes," Bulma huffed, her lips pouting while her foot tapped in sync with crossed arms. "It's not like I'm asking you to read the encyclopedia."

"Almost...err..no...wait," He briefly paused, more ruffles heard in the background. "It's the other way and...let's see, to make this...AH! Got it! We're good now!"

As soon as he said this, a pair of figures came out that made her almost do a doubletake. There she saw her beloved husband in his old Turtle Hermit gi of blue outlining orange, the latter being the banner of his school. Blue wrist bands with similarly colored cloth boots and a sash with the sign of his school on the upper left of the kosode.

Beside him was their adorable daughter, her slightly disheveled hair on edge as she grinned brightly at wearing something of her father's. A black pair of cloth sandals with a identically colored sash tied around the similarly colored gi deprived of the blue addendum in Goku's apparel. She made up for it by a furred tail swinging behind her happily which her father lacked; as well as a rope slung over her chest, holding a unique item over her shoulders. The red magical staff, the Nyoi-Bo, an old treasure of his adopted grandfather's was worn with its red carrying holster holding it in place on her back; something that truly showed his adoration for his daughter that moved the lavender haired woman.

"Oh...you two are such a pair," Bulma exclaimed with a teary smile, wiping her eyes as she sniffled slightly. Looking down at the purple haired, onyx eyed daughter of hers she ruffled her head which earned her a giggle. "You look like me if I was your father. That gi fits you alright?"

"Uh-huh! It was a little hard but papa got it on for me," Pan nodded with a toothy smile.

"Sorry it took so long," Goku apologized with a scratch to his angled scalp. "I've only ever changed her diapers when she was a baby, so helping her get dressed was a little-"

"No apology needed," She insisted with a wave of her hand, dismissing the issue as she crossed her arms over her blue topped chest. With only beige shorts to match with a pair of tennis shoes, she didn't think a visit to Kame House required anything fancy. She didn't even think to add any make-up, not that Goku ever seemed to mind, just as a sign for how little she cared. She knew that her sister put much thought into it either, despite how much time she uses to procrastinate.

A sigh was let loose as she looked out the window with a frown.

"Uh, is everything okay?" Her husband asked with a owlish set of blinks.

"Yeah, it's just my sister, Tights," Bulma explained as she turned back to look at him with a frustrated stare that made him grimace. "I mean, she knew it was today, and we planned for it but she ALWAYS has to come super late. Ugh! It's not enough that I had to spend early morning packing some snacks in a capsule, making sure there'd be enough between you two alone and our expected company. But no, I had to manage dad's employees and play boss while working on a project of mine on the side for the whole morning. I wouldn't have been so stressed had he not picked today to be at the opening of his lunar gravity satellite's launch, and leave it to mom to go with so she couldn't help out in the kitch-"

"Bulma," Goku cut her off, his hands reaching out to grab her shoulders as he simply smiled with an optimistic pair of eyes staring into her worrying ones. "It's fine. I'm sure Roshi won't mind us being a little late. We're just meeting with some old friends. It's not like we're going to a party or anything, it's just us and them. No need to get crazy over it."

"Y-You're right," She replied with a nod, letting out a breath of relaxation as her tension left her slumping shoulders. Reaching out she pulled her husband into a hug that he was only too happy to return. Nuzzling into his neck she whispered with a smile. "Thanks, I needed that."

"Of course, Bulma," He chirped, pulling back to give her a chaste kiss. "Anything for you."

"Ew!" Pan gagged as she made a yucky face. "Kissies, bleugh!"

"Haha, that's our girl," Goku laughed along with his wife.

At that moment, the door ringer finally buzzed. While she was happy that she had calmed down, she couldn't help but turn to scowl at the front entrance of their home. Before she left, Goku gave her a look of pleading to not curb stomp her sibling...or something along those lines.

"I'll think about it," She muttered as she stomped towards the door. The bell repeated numerous times immediately marking her with a pulsing vein of anger. When she arrived the door opened swiftly as her angry face barged out. The woman beyond shrank back as she barked out a loud. "YOU'RE LATE!"

"I-I'm sorry," The blonde sister clapped her hands together as she bowed her head. "I really, REALLY tried to get here as soon as I can. I had to take a cab just to get here. It's such a long story that started with a mime bumping into me-"

"No need to finish," Bulma groaned as she pulled back and let her sibling come in. "Dad and mom are away during this site construction being put on display. We're just gonna meet everyone on our own."

"Sounds like dad to pick a bad time to choose work over family," Tights gestured with her hand as she entered the home she had been away from far longer than her sister had in the past. Taking time to soak in the familiarity as she walked allowed both Pan and Goku to get a good look at her.

Like Bulma, she had her hair trimmed short but looked a bit more frazzled than her distant sister. Golden locks complemented dark eyes with a slightly more tanned complexion, a byproduct of her being an extrovert far more due to her occupation swinging back and forth. Though not as generously proportioned as her sibling she possessed a lithe figure, her choice in clothing being that of a pair of blue jean overalls over a black tee with a pair of boots adorned to her feet. A dark brown strap wrapped around her with a satchel over her shoulder, containing the contents of her current profession.

"Hello there," Goku introduced him as Tights did a once-over at the taller man with bedroom hair. "My name's Son Goku. I'm married to your sister, Bulma."

"I know, I heard about that," She acknowledged with a slow nod, her mouth agape. When she broke out her reverie, she whispered not too quietly as she nudged her sibling. "You didn't tell me he was a hottie!"

"Your expression was priceless," Bulma commented with a raspberry wink.

"Still mischievous as usual," Tights pinched her lips together. When she felt a tug on her leg she turned to look down at the lavender haired girl below her.

"Hiya, Auntie," Pan introduced herself with a formal bow with hands clasped together, still beaming with a bright smile. "My name's Son Pan. I'm happy to meet you!"

"Awwwwwww," The relative of the tailed girl gushed, pulling Pan to hug her tightly as she scruffed her spikey hair. "You're so adorable and polite! You're the spitting image of your parents, I can't believe such a well mannered girl can be their kid."

"HEY!" Bulma snapped while her husband simply laughed.

"You haven't seen her when she was younger. We could barely keep her from causing trouble," Goku admitted with a wink aimed at Pan who simply stuck her tongue out at her dad.

"I did NOT," She harrumphed with a pouted lips, her tail whipping at her father's direction with disapproval.

"Haha! Sounds like you, sis," Tights laughed at that, releasing her neice as she stood to her feet. When she caught sight of the tail she raised a brow and then looked at Goku. Tilting her head to the side she saw no tail emerging from his clothes. Turning to look at Bulma she did the same before she looked pointedly down at face pulling daughter that was exchanged back by her father who made his own silly expressions. "So, that tail-?"

"Long story, but that's an expected trait," Bulma replied with a wave of her hand. "Trust me, I've taken care of everything so we wouldn't have an incident like the one with her father."

"Oooooh!" Tights raised her hands into fists, leaning towards her sister with a starry eyed stare at her. "You must tell me! That sounds like a story I can use in one of my books!"

"Later, not now," Bulma shot down earning her sibling's soured expression. Wrapping her arms around her chest she decided to ask. "Is writing not going well for you?"

"Paco the Space Cadet didn't get that many hits," She admitted with a roll of her eyes. "I'm leaning more towards the martial arts side of things. I mostly agreed to step away from my other side job to get me inspired. Meeting a legend like Muten Roshi and from what you told, your husband and a number of others who are martial artists might give me ideas as what to write!"

"Temper your expectations," Bulma chuckled as she unfurled her arms. "It's not like they're going to fight Daimao Piccolo anytime soon. Anything short of aliens falling from the sky and challenging them won't exactly get them in the mood to show their stuff. They're just quirky guys, some more odd than others."

"HAHAHA! Papa, that face is too silly!" Pan cried out as the two women looked over to see her father pulling a face. His tongue was circling while his eyes seemed to dance in opposing directions, all while he made a odd warbling sound from his mouth. The sight was enough to make both of them to giggle and snicker at the ridiculous sight.

"Yeah, well," Tights began with a hopeful grin and a wink. "Who knows what might happen? Inspiration can come from the least expected places."

"That, I can agree with you," Bulma replied with a nod.

* * *

Yamcha was now contentedly resting. It had been well over an hour since he just did some basic exercises while he watched out for incoming. Knowing the others could have called them numerous times, he gathered they were running late. Pulling up a lawn chair he was now reclined fully on the beach with his hands resting behind his head. Eyes closed behind his shades while legs were crossed over one another.

The wind was gentle and the gulls cawing was a nice addition to the rolling waves. It couldn't have been a better moment of just relaxing bliss.

That was rudely interrupted as a rumbling roar was heard as a hovercraft impacted the beach with a loud crash that shook the house and threw Yamcha off his chair. Finding himself head planted in sand, his upright legs fell flat as he pulled out to spit out grains. Twitching with aggravation he let out a loud groan.

"If anyone didn't catch the sound of that comet hitting our planet, Bulma is here!" Yamcha cried out to the house as he forced himself to his feet.

The screen door of Kame House opened as if someone had been waiting by the door; the first one to spill out was Kuririn, quickly followed by Kashiko, and Oolong soon after. Yamcha, having the advantage of being outside before the rest of the group, he hastily began cleaning away the lawn chair as Bulma's carrier came to a complete stop, the door opening with a loud hiss.

The hiss transformed into a whirring noise as the door began to move upwards, revealing the orange-clad figure of Goku, the casual form of Bulma, and two figures that the Dragon Team neither knew nor recognized. Bulma was the first to greet them, the lavender-haired woman striding out of her Capsule Corporation hovercraft with a broad smile, one arm behind her back.

"Hey, everyone!" She waved in the direction of Kuririn, Yamcha, and the others, just as Muten Rōshi made his way out of his own front door. "Long time no see!"

"Says the girl who never shows up unless we invite 'er," crowed Rōshi. "To be honest, I'm surprised _you_ called this little get together...even if you decided to host it on my island!"

"Now now, don't be like that," Bulma admonished the elderly man, and quickly pulled a package out from behind her, handing it to him. "Look, I even brought you some nikuman!"

"Nikuman, eh?" Rōshi reached for the wrapped box, a grin forming on his face as he chuckled. "You didn't need to go out of your way like that when all you needed to do was let me squeeze your boobs a li-!"

There was a resounding _thwack! _as Bulma's fist came down hard on Rōshi's head, causing the old man to wince and rub a newly forming bruise.

"Still no sense of humor, huh?"

"Still the same lecherous pervert, _huh!?_"

"Come on now, let's not get violent," Goku walked over to his wife, carrying his daughter in his arms. The lavender-tressed girl was clinging to her father's neck, looking around at the new arrivals with wide-eyed curiosity and an innocent smile. "How're ya doin', teacher?" He asked, grinning at his former teacher who was still clutching his forehead and shooting Bulma quite the offended look.

"Oh, Goku," Kuririn looked at his best friend, and then over to Bulma, and then finally a third time as the blonde girl who was following after. "You picked up Goku on the way here, and...someone else?"

Remembering his self-assertion to be on his best behavior, Yamcha sighed, arms crossed. "Did you keep them out of the loop, Bulma?"

"Well, it wasn't that...I wanted it to be a surprise at the right time, and we never really got the right moment before now...!" Bulma hastily defended herself, hands raised. "Kuririn, Muten Rōshi, Goku and I are married!"

"An' this little one is our kid," Goku chimed in, accompanied by a cheerful wave from Pan.

"MARRIED!?"

"WITH A KID!?"

Rōshi, Kuririn, and Oolong all practically jumped, while Kashiko merely stood there and looked puzzled for a moment.

"Say hey, champ," Goku knelt down, putting Pan on the ground and she walked over towards the others, grinning.

"Hi! I'm Pan!"

"Well, she's an adorable tyke, isn't she?" Kuririn knelt down to reach eye-level with Pan — admittedly not a difficult feat, due to his less-than-imposing-height — to get a better look at her. "...Yeah, she's definitely your kid; same wild hair, same eyes, and even the strange t-tail!?" Kuririn's voice pitched immediately the sight of the tail waving behind Pan, and everyone present that remembered Goku's own tail eyed Bulma with shock.

"It's fine, it's fine!" Bulma knew what they were getting at, and immediately tried to reassure everyone. "We take the necessary precautions to make sure nothing acts up, and there's nothing to worry about with the moon, we put her to bed pretty early!" Seeing Yamcha and Kuririn's eyes in particular, she added, "The tail is here to stay, guys," as she had no intention of cutting anything off of her precious daughter.

"Still, this is a surprise," Muten Rōshi smiled, leaning on his cane. "Goku, with a child of his own...never thought I'd see the day." Adjusting his shades briefly, he continued. "So, Goku, is she strong? I see you both are wearing my colours...has she begun formal training?"

"Not just yet, she's only four," Goku replied. "But we go through the motions and keep her active; I think she's got more energy than I do!" As he laughed, Pan had just noticed Turtle, Rōshi's ever faithful companion, and was currently trying to balance on his shell.

"I'm gonna be real strong!" She added, grinning. "I wanna be stronger than Papa!"

"Bulma's looks, Goku's gung-ho attitude. Seems we've got quite the combination," said Rōshi. "And who's th-!"

"Cutting you off right there, geezer," Bulma sidelined Rōshi's comment as the elderly man turned to look at her older sister, his face already beginning to flush. "This is my older sister, Tights, and a pensioner isn't high on the list of things she's looking for."

"Hey, I'm still quite svelte for my age!" Rōshi interjected angrily.

"About a thousand years ago, maybe!"

Tights couldn't help but giggle at the exchange between her younger sister and the elderly master, before walking ahead of the lavender-hued genius, giving her own cheerful wave so reminiscent of her sister and niece. "Ignoring my sweet little sister for a moment, I'm happy to meet you, Muten Rōshi. I'm a novelist, and I was hoping to speak to a legitimate martial artist such as yourself to get some first hand experience."

"I should have asked this while I was on the phone, but I suppose it slipped my mind," Bulma eased towards her sister, eyes narrowing with suspicion. "My dear _husband_ is a martial artist — and the strongest person on the planet — so why didn't you talk to him if you wanted a martial artists opinion?"

"I'm sure Goku is strong, no offence, but I figured the best source would be one with experience," Tights shrugged.

"Yes, because your other sources are oh-so-reliable," shot back Bulma.

While the two sisters began to bicker, Kashiko stepped toward Goku. She smiled, and made a slight bow, her faced flushed, and fixed her hair while hastily adjusting her glasses. "H-Hello, Mr. Son. I-It's an honor to meet the Champion of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budōkai and the man who defeated Piccolo Daimaō."

Goku blinked, first once, then twice, then rapidly. It wasn't that a cute girl talking to him was a surprise — first, he was married to Bulma, and two, Goku didn't process things like that — but the fact that she seemed to remember the incident with Piccolo Junior that threw him for a loop, given how many people seemed to be blissfully forgetting it.

"Oh! Right, that did happen. Sorry it's just been so long that even I'm starting to forget I did that!" Goku replied with a palming fist, following with a jovial chuckle as he scratched his head due to his own embarrassed forgetfulness. It had been true, over six years since the Tenkaichi Budōkai happened and his subsequent victory in it. He hadn't seen Piccolo since the green-skinned antagonist swore he'd come back for revenge; only now did he wonder what happened to his arch-rival. "But...who are you exactly?"

"I-I'm Kuririn's girlfriend," replied Kashiko nervously, fidgeting. "I saw him compete in the Tenkaichi Budōkai, and I was quite taken by his efforts. N-Not that you weren't fantastic as well, you were!" She added hastily, as if hoping to not be offensive.

Ever helpful, Kuririn gave Goku the run down of how he met the girl, filling him in on the same details he'd given Yamcha earlier. "...and eventually, we pretty much became joined at the hip."

A grin and chuckle escaped Goku's lips, happy that his best friend had finally found some one like he had. He could remember Kuririn's women woes, even if they weren't something he'd ever needed to relate to. The reason he'd even trained under Muten Rōshi was to become popular with the girls, though he'd grown out of this over time. Kuririn extended a fist, grinning, and Goku returned the fist bump.

"I never expected your friends to be quite so...animated, Kuririn," said Kashiko smiling earnestly at the others.

"Yeah, we're quite a crowd." Kuririn replied sheepishly. "But still, I wouldn't trade these guys for anyone else."

Over head, far above the island, something streaked through the skies of Earth. Igniting the atmosphere, the object picked up speed and raced downwards like a falling meteorite. The flaming object drew nearer, seeing the island within its sights. With a resounding crash, the object hit the water, sinking to the bottom of the ocean and creating a not-so-impressive wave upon entry.

The sound shook the gathering party, with everyone craning their heads to see where the object and explosion had come from. Yamcha was the first to run towards the shore, an exclamation of disbelief coming from his lips, and look at the impact zone. Instinctively, Bulma and Tights stopped their arguing, but rather than seem paranoid, as the others did, they flashed each other a knowing look and sighed. Tights herself planted a palm firmly onto her face, sauntering over to the shore with a quick movement and a shake of her hips.

"Here he goes again..." the blonde girl chuckled.

"Here...who goes again?" Oolong was blinking rapidly, still shocked from the impact. He didn't have the nerve to approach the water like Yamcha and Tights, lacking the former's strength and the latter's self-confidence.

"An old family friend," replied Bulma as something bobbed to the surface. It wasn't a bird. It wasn't a plane. But it _was_, however, a craft of some kind. The craft was slick, and though turned upside down, revealing the black underbelly, still showed shades of red and white, as well as gold. It wasn't of any make that the Dragon Team recognized, but it clearly looked like some form of aircraft.

"Perhaps someone lost control of their hovercraft and crashed down here?" offered Puar helpfully.

"No, trust me, it's him," continued Tights. "Give him a minute, he has a knack for—"

The hatch at the bottom of the vehicle _exploded_, and a figure launched out of the craft, landing onto the white sandy beaches of Muten Rōshi's island. The figure was rather short, having purple skin with a noseless, pale blue face, and bulbous yellow eyes. He wore a white vest, gloves, and boots, and on the vest was a logo. He bent forward, arms raised to his side, before sliding into a new pose; an angular lean to the right, with his enclosed hands pointing the forefingers towards the sky.

"The elite member of the Galactic Patrol, Jaco, has arrived!" Jaco spoke in a young, rather nasally voice, announcing himself.

"—very flashy entrances..." Tights continued, her expression weakly amused. "Everyone...this is Jaco Teirimentenpibosshi."

"He's a family friend," Bulma volunteered again. "A rather old acquaintance we met when I was around...five?"

"Hold up a minute," Kuririn looked at the strange individual, confused. "He said 'Galactic Patrol'. What, is that some sort of exclusive club? Like an astronomers group, or something?"

"No." Tights asserted honestly. "He's an actual alien."

"ALIEN!?" Yamcha, Puar, Oolong, and Kuririn jumped, while Kashiko's glasses slid down her face as she took in the news.

"An alien..." Muten Rōshi leaned on his cane. "Live as long as I have, and I guess you really _will_ see everything."

The only one unfazed by this was Goku; he could remember a discussion he had with Bulma a few years ago, before they had gotten married. "_I've seen an alien as a child, so it's not like they don't exist._" That's what she had told him. Walking over to Jaco, Goku looked at the alien, poking him in the chest. "So you're a real live alien, huh? Bulma mentioned you once; I didn't think you actually existed. Hmm...are you strong?"

"Of course I am!" Jaco replied indignantly. "I rank among the elites in the Galactic Patrol; the best of the best, even! I'm a super-elite, chosen among the ranks of the Galactic Patrol, those who protect the peace of the galaxy!"

"Oho?" Goku's eyes flashed a glint. "You don't seem like much, though. What do you say we spar? If you're an alien from another planet, it could be real fun! I'm gettin' excited just thinking about it!"

Leaning towards Jaco, Bulma whispered. "Watch it, Jaco. That's my husband, and he's quite the muscle-brain. If you say you're strong, he _will_ want to fight you and if you want to make it back your headquarters in one piece, it's in your best interest to make an excuse!"

The Galactic Patrol agent went stiff as a board; he preferred to avoid conflict, and his life motto was more or less to run away to do the same another day. The prospect of getting into a fight with a man who looked like he could bench-press the island they were standing on didn't appeal to Jaco in the slightest. Hastily, the agent tried to excuse himself. "So sorry, regulations prevent me from engaging in activities like that with the natives of other planets! I could get into heaps of trouble back home!"

"_Quick on his feet, as always,_" Tights thought to herself as Goku hung his head in disappointment. "So, what is it, Jaco? You rarely show up now unless you need something or I'm calling you for a favor. And I doubt you came all this way just to exchange greetings; that was quite a hurried landing you made there."

Jaco was silent for a moment, and then his mouth dropped down, jaw agape in a comedic fashion. "Of course! I forgot! I don't have time for idle chit-chat! Tights! Bulma! There's an emergency and Earth is in danger! _Saiyans _are on their way towards Earth right **now**!"

* * *

**A/N:**  
**Demod20: **_And we made it in the knick of time! But, since we're extra nice guys we talked it over and plan to take what was originally going to be a slightly longer chapter and split it into two. You all know what's coming since 'dat cliffhanger' and I'm REALLY excited. But I did enjoy writing what I did here; between introducing Kashiko, Kuririn's girlfriend, and developing Yamcha a bit more along with Tights' introduciton to her neice and brother-in-law it was loads of fun. I liked what my co-author did as well so this was an all around funny and enjoyable chapter. Our series finally gets serious by the next update so get ready for a early one-time-deal update this June! Until then, see you all later!_

**LastationLover5000: **_So this chapter was released far earlier than the traditional Heart release — about a month early in fact, but that was due to our schedule delays. We promised you a May update, and to those of you who expected early May, that was the plan but we got sidetracked. But we STILL made it for the May deadline, barely by like a day! So this still qualifies as a May update! All in all, I liked this chapter; the introduction a new character, the introduction of two characters from new canonical supplementary material into the series, and now, the arrival of the Saiyans! I bet we had you fooled, didn't we? No one expects the Galactic Patrolman! I was very happy to have brought both Tights and Jaco into the series, because yes, we pay attention to Toriyama's supplementary material whether people like it or not. Also, Kashiko, Kuririn's girlfriend: Kashiko literally means __樫粉 __acorn flour, carrying on the "nut" pun from Kurririn's name, which means chestnut. "ko" (__子__) is also a term attached to female names, similar to how "maru" is attached to male names. I think we tried our best to make her cute, so look out for more of her in the future! We'll be updating one more time in June before returning to our normal schedule, so stay tuned! As always, thanks to Firegod00 for helping us edit!_


	8. The Mysterious Warrior from Space

**The Heart of the Adventurers**

**By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, edited by Firegod00**

**Chapter 8 — The Mysterious Warrior from Space**

* * *

**"**Did you say _Saiyans_?" Tights repeated, looking at Jaco with her onyx-hued eyes. "You're serious, Jaco? But you missed the Saiyan last time; remember, wasn't it a false alarm? You were looking for days and nothing happened!"

"Did I say Saiyans? Sorry, I meant _Saiyan_." Jaco stressed the singular before continuing. "And I have no idea what happened with that Saiyan I missed last time, however, this time, it's real! I was notified of a ship approaching Earth and I made it here as quickly as I could!"

"...So you panicked and ran to the safest place you could find?" asked Bulma shrewdly. "How very 'elite' of you."

"How rude!" Jaco replied indignantly. "Your planet is about to be invaded, and I came here of my own free will to warn my friends and _that's _the thanks I get? I have half a mind to leave right now..."

"...just in time to avoid the impending Saiyan arrival, right?" the lavender-haired woman kept prodding at her alien friend's patience.

"I don't want to be _that_ guy, but, what's a Saiyan?" Yamcha was the first to ask the question that the others were thinking. "You keep saying that word, and that our 'planet' is in danger, but how are any of us supposed to get the scope of that without you explaining it?"

"He's got a point," Kuririn nodded. "And even if one exists, how do you know it's heading here?"

"Our radar system at headquarters detected a projectile departing from a distant planet, used by the Saiyans as their home base," explained Jaco. "And the way we calculated it, the route of the space pod was headed directly towards this planet."

"And what _are_ they?" stressed Muten Rōshi.

Jaco placed a gloved finger to his round chin; if anyone could read his strange alien eyes, they'd know the Galactic Patrolman was trying to find the words to tell them. He eventually decided to settle on the explanation he gave to Tights. It was the quickest to the point, and contained the hard facts they need.

"Their main motive is to take over the planet..."

* * *

_Elsewhere..._

There was a spacecraft that had already entered Earth's atmosphere. Spherical in shape, with a red glass dome, it was immersed in a deep energy flow that stayed off the heat from the atmosphere as the ship flew down towards Earth. The destination wasn't pre-set, and thus this alien was going to land in an entirely random corner of the planet his databases referred to as 'Earth'.

"_So this is where Mother and Father sent you..._" The man inside the ship, a stocky, well-built man with an absolute wild mess of black hair, was thinking to himself as he approached a landmass. "_How well did you do...?_" The ship crashed with a resounding bang into the ground, creating a crater where the metal hit earth. As if showing the differences between alien and Earthling craftsmanship, the craft was not dented; even the glass itself remained pristine, unmarred. With a hiss, the front of the pod unlatched itself, and the man placed a hand on the side, stepping out into fresh air without any regard for the state of the atmosphere.

"So this is the planet Earth," the alien man muttered to himself in a foreign, unintelligible tongue. "And in such pristine a state. Kakarrot, what have you been doing!?"

【_...but the worst thing is that they're an evil alien race that loves to fight._】

The man was dressed in attire that could only be described as a form of armor. It consisted of a black chest plate, yellow shoulder pads and stomach guard, as well as similarly coloured hip guards. He wore boots and gloves of similar colours, and on his left arm and leg, he had two white bands. Wrapped around his waist was what appeared to be a brown belt, and equipped to his face was a unique piece of gear with a green lens and white section which attached to the ear.

The man surveyed his surroundings, and saw that he was not alone, as he first assumed. Just ahead was a building with unique architecture, that the shaggy-haired man could only assume was an odd Earthling design. It appeared to be a metal castle of sorts, shaped like an inverted cup, the walls inlined with turrets intersecting at various intervals. Emblazoned on the side of the building was a massive red symbol, with two white "R"s inside.

"Such basic architecture," the alien scoffed, turning his eyes onto the building and placing a finger to the odd device on his head. With a press of a button, it began to emit beeps and signals flashed in front of his left eye, scanning the building inside. It detected multiple signatures, and displayed various symbols that would be foreign to any Earthling. However, to this man, they were the numerical system his people used, and he could read them just fine. The signatures detected by the device began to move, and the alien saw that they were headed out of the building.

Towards _him_.

"And it seems the fun starts here," he told himself as the doors of the oddly constructed building burst forward, and a multitude of armed soldiers. They were wearing the same "RR" symbol, and armed with a variety of guns, from the M4 carbine to the M249 light machine gun. There were even some straggler soldiers stationed in the far back, setting up what looked like a PGM Hécate II — anti-materiel rifle designed typically to target tanks.

"Halt!" One of the soldiers shouted. "This area is the territory of the Red Ribbon Army! Trespassers, even aliens, are prohibited!"

The device on the alien's face immediately picked up the language and translated it, while informing him of which language the foolish man was speaking as well. It was apparently the common tongue; a language that most species just seemed to commonly evolve and learn to speak. It was spoken by several other species in the galaxy, and was the primary method of communicating due to how widespread it was. However, as it wasn't quite as advanced as other languages, many species stuck to calling it Galactic Basic Standard, or "Basic" for short.

The alien stepped forward, a smirk on his face.

"We said halt! If you do not halt, we will shoot!"

The threats, though he could understand them, did nothing to deter the man's progress. He seemed to be simply enjoy watching them sweat, and in truth, they were itching to back away. This alien simply gave them all kinds of bad vibes and the soldiers didn't want to be within a foot of him. However, orders were orders, and the moment that the ship had crashed into the Earth and their HQ confirmed what it was, they were ordered to intercept.

"FIRE!"

The order was given, and then immediately followed. There was the sound of various rounds of ammunition being unleashed from the guns, cracking and exploding as the numerous rounds were unleashed in the direction of the invading extraterrestrial. Each shot struck home, and any normal man would have been dead, bleeding out from a variety of holes shot into his body with these weapons.

But the alien was not normal.

【_Even the Galactic Patrol are no match for them, and the Extinction Bomb has no effect on them either._】

The rounds shot from the guns lay scattered around the man, a smug grin across his face as he looked down. Was _this_ what these Earthlings used as a substitute for _ki_? "_No wonder the combat strength readings from my Scouter don't rank higher than twenty._" He mused internally, stepping over broken rounds, crunching them beneath his feet.

"Impossible...!" One of the Red Ribbon soldiers backed away, gripping onto his gun in terror. "No normal man could survive a blow like that! " Many of the soldiers here had never before witnessed an impossible feat such as this; in fact, only a few within these scattered ranks had been members of the Red Ribbon Army years ago, when an impossible boy named Son Goku had performed an impossible feat and destroyed their army. _They_ had experienced true fear then, and this man was bringing it all back to them in full.

"Form a path!" A soldier from the rear shouted, and instantly, even the fearful soldiers parted, forming a clear line between the invading warrior and the soldier at the rear of the group. The man in question was lying on the ground, his PGM Hécate II perched on top of its bipod, looking through his sniper scope. The man pulled the trigger without hesitation, and with a roar like thunder, a blast of fire erupted from the muzzle brake at the end of the Hécate II's barrel; the projectile shot from the weapon faster than the sound of the blast. The sniper himself was pushed back along with his weapon from the force of the shot, but he was certain this single bullet would be enough to rid themselves of the alien invader.

Another sickening thunderclap was heard as the shot struck home. But it was not in the way that the soldier had so desperately hoped. Standing in the same place he had been, arm outstretched, and over-sized PGM Hécate II bullet clutched in his hand, was the long-haired alien. "You're going to have to try better than that, little man," the alien laughed in his unintelligible language, gripping the bullet and lopping it with all of his strength towards its previous owner. There was the sound of splatter as the bullet hit its new intended target, and the poor man erupted into a fountain of gore.

"NO!"

"SOUJH!"

The soldiers turned in a mixture of horror and shock as the man known as Soujh was reduced to nothing more than a blood and flesh scattered across the ground. This man had withstood the force of the PGM Hécate II without a scratch, and even sent it back to the original gunman. What were they were supposed to do against someone like him?"

"This is literal child's play," grinned the alien man as the fear overtook the soldiers and each and every one of them lost their will to fight. However, he couldn't have fun here forever. He was here for a reason, and sidetracking himself would only keep him here longer than needed. He began to focus his _ki_, brimming with bright energy. With the flick of his fingertips, there was an updraft, followed by a massive explosion. In the wake of this move, everything was destroyed; the building, bodies, weapons, everything in front of the alien may as well have been caught in a massive bomb blast. Rocks that were blown upward by the blast fell down with a resounding crash, leaving the man alone at last.

【_If the planet is ruled by a powerless race, like this Earth, they will usually send a small child to slowly do away with the people on that planet..._】

He began to float in the air, ignoring his 'magnificent handiwork', and pressed a finger to the device he had called a Scouter. Tinkering with the functions, he began to search the planet on a global scale for suitable 'combat strengths'. With more alien figures showing in the readings, something even an Earthling would recognize appeared; an arrow pointing into the distance, accompanied by the 'scanning circle' of the device, and more alien numerals beneath it.

"Something powerful is close by...a combat strength of 322...distance, 4880...could it be Kakarrot?!" The 'belt' around his waist shifted, flexing in anticipation as it revealed itself to be not a belt, but a tail.

【_Apart from the fact that they have a tail, they look very similar to Earthlings too..._】

Laughing, the man took off towards the combat strength his Scouter was detecting, grinning. Without a thought, he left the utter carnage, and even his space pod, behind in a hurry. "I'm coming for you, Kakarrot!"

【_The Saiyans of Planet Vegeta._】

* * *

**Wastelands, Earth**

Utterly unaware of the chaos that had just unfolded, the being known to the rest of the world as Piccolo Daimaō was standing by his lonesome, on the edge of a cliff. Truth be told, he didn't look remotely threatening in this scenario; if anything, he looked rather neglected, and his forlorn expression did nothing to fix the matter. However, the 'Great Demon King' had merely finished a training exercise, and was merely contemplating what he should do next.

The time to battle Son Goku was coming. This he knew. He'd postponed his world domination for the sake of undergoing the Demon Clan's methods of training once more after his humiliating loss to Son Goku at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budōkai, and was happy to say his training was moving along smoothly — in fact, he'd devised a new technique purely to kill Son Goku, and the prospect of using it was nearly irresistible.

And yet, a cold shiver down his spine would distract the demon from his inner ramblings. "This is...an immense _ki_! And it's approaching fast!" The sheer enormity of its power told Piccolo that the _ki_'s owner had no concept of stealth, or at least felt he had no need for it. And he knew only one mortal with that sheer level of audacity and confidence. But this _ki_...it couldn't be... "Is it Son Goku!?"

The figure approaching in the distance, however, told Piccolo a different story. Forgetting its sheer speed for a moment, it was clearly _not_ Son Goku; the shaggy black hair and bulky figure, complete with a vastly different outfit, told this much. The figure came to a complete and utter stop, landing neatly on the cliff-side next to Piccolo. It wasn't Son Goku, however, there could be said to be some resemblance. Looking at Piccolo, the man's immediate expression was one of disappointment.

"You're not Kakarrot," he scoffed, the tone of a man immediately writing off someone as worthless. He was now speaking in entirely fluent 'Basic', as now that he had approached someone of sizable power, he figured he could use him to locate Kakarrot.

"Forget who _I_ am," Piccolo replied harshly. "Who are _you_? Do you have business with me?"

"With the likes of you?" the strange man chuckled. "Hardly."

"Then why are you here!?" Piccolo growled, becoming frustrated with this man's attitude. "Only those with a death wish attempt to make a fool of me!"

"You're quite the feisty one. I followed your combat strength of 322 here — far more than I expected to find on this rock — in the hopes of getting some information. But you'd be hardly even a warm-up if you want me to sweep you aside."

A vein throbbed in Piccolo's head. He was Piccolo Daimaō, the one destined to rule this entire world. He would be the one with the world under his feet, so how could a mere mortal like this talk down to him? "What!? What did you say!? Do you have _any_ idea who you're talking to!?"

"I honestly don't think I should care."

"_The way he carries himself...so arrogant...so self-assured...could he really have that much power?_" Piccolo's senses had never lied to him before. He was very adept at sensing _ki_, at least when he was on guard — letting down his guard was a mistake that had cost him in Tenkaichi Budōkai — and this man's power was immense. However, Piccolo couldn't simply stand here and let him have his way. Without warning, the Namekian thrust his arm forward with a mighty shout, releasing a blast of _ki_ that collided with the arrogant man and exploded on contact.

The _ki_ blast proved as inefficient as the artillery the Earthlings had unleashed on him earlier, and the smoke cleared with the fresh gust of wind, revealing the man to be entirely undamaged, stunning Piccolo entirely. "A very basic attack. Easy to learn, easy to use..._difficult to impress with_." He raised a hand upwards, electricity crackling around it in a purple hue. "Shall I show you how to really do it?"

_Beep. Beepbeepbeepbeep! _

His Scouter began to beep frantically, the device having automatically located a combat strength higher than the most recently read entry. Brushing Piccolo off entirely, the invader rose into the air, looking around. "There it is...distance 12,909...and such a huge power! In fact, it's the greatest on this planet! It has to be Kakarrot!" In eagerness, he flew away, leaving Piccolo frozen in fear behind him.

Laughing as he tore through Earth's skies, the man shouted to no one in particular, back in his own foreign tongue once more. "Have you gone and lost your pride!? The pride of a Saiyan warrior, Kakarrot!?"

* * *

**Kame House, Earth**

Everyone was standing in a collective silence, befitting of the morbid news Jaco just explained. The Space Cop dropped a bombshell none of the reuniting friends had wanted or expected to hear. His own arrival was one thing but it was entirely another for a destructive force such as that coming to their world. Understandably, the first one to speak about this was the anxious Yamcha.

"S-So what y-you're saying is," He began to say, clearing his throat to cease the trembling that he felt overpowering his own speech. Taking a step forward he waved his hands around with a sweating expression on his wide-eyed face. "That these Saiyans...this Saiyan...not only looks like us but loves fighting and killing, is coming right here?!"

"And soon," The Galactic Patrolman affirmed with a serious nod of the head. "I suggest you all hide with your loved ones, most preferably deep underground or underwater. It might help you hide from their incredible sense of smell and hearing. If they can't find you this particular invader may just leave after killing everyone else."

"You're telling us to sacrifice everything on the planet for the sake of survival? What kind of cowardly idiots do you take us for?!" Bulma cried out with a look of anger on her face. The sheer look of incredulity on her vein throbbing face was enough to cause the diminutive enforce of the law to back up with apprehension behind Tights. Raising her hand, she ground her teeth with a cracking knuckle. "Here's a thought! Why didn't you call Headquarters and get reinforcements? Better yet, why don't you try and blow up his ship from space?!"

"My transport isn't designed to hit anything as fast as their craft!" He argued from behind the angry woman's sibling, whom herself looked annoyed. "Besides, no one in the Galactic Patrol can match the power of a Saiyan. We're policemen, not_soldiers_!"

"It's a wonder you've protected anybody with that attitude," The blonde sibling scoffed with her arms crossed, eyes turning to scowl at him.

As the intergalactic lawman twitched with his own brand of frustration, a clearing of the throat was raised by the nearby pair. With a sheepish laugh, Kashiko scratched her chin while asserting forth, "Well, if you don't feel confident, why don't you leave him to these fighters? If you saw them in action at the Tenkaichi Budokai several years ago, surely you'd been impressed by their abilities. Just like my Kuririn!"

As she exclaimed in a doting manner, the Orin monk blushed at the compliment but had enough presence of mind to look at the alien speculatively himself, "If what you're saying is true, we might be the only chance of saving everyone we got. Perhaps if we all teamed up, it'd be possible, right?"

"I'm afraid you don't understand the true destructive prowess of a Saiyan," Jaco implored with a sigh, moving away from Tights to approach the couple then sweeping around the circle of gathered friends. "They are able to wipe out entire planets as young, developing children. Adults are ten times more terrifying! I'm sure you're all capable fighters, but the likelihood of stopping even one of them is next to impossible-"

"HA!" Muten Rōshi guffawed nearby, causing the alien to twitch with a turned head at him with surprise. Stroking his beard he grinned toothily at the yellow-eyed bug man. "We've faced trials of the sort you probably have never encountered. Piccolo Daimaō had the power to wipe out this world and Son Goku here beat him singlehandedly. Twice, I might add."

"Y-You're joking-"

"Nope," Goku waved with a laugh, earning a look of wild surprise and instant skepticism. Grinning he began to perform some stretches right off the bat, making Bulma roll her eyes with a wry grin while Pan clapped with excitement. "It's been awhile since I've had a challenge like that! Maybe when we meet, I can ask if he knows any other guys from outer space to fight."

"You're insane!" Jaco cried out.

"No, he's my papa," Pan boasted proudly with a waving tail. "No one's stronger than him. He's gonna beat up that Saiya-man!"

The furred appendage was enough to make the Patrolman immediately sieze up. He hadn't noticed it before but he couldn't take his eyes off it. With a startled leap back, his hand reached for the pistol and declared to everyone vocally, "Everyone, move away from the child!"

"Jaco!" Tights and Bulma cried out as one, sharing looks of surprise and anger at once for even insisting on that. Pan, whom heard it as palpable as the other shocked faces, just looked on with an inquisitive bat of the eyes that was shared with her father.

"Hey man, what's gotten into you?" Yamcha asked with a nervous smile, unaware if the man posed too much danger and why he centered on the admittedly adorable girl.

"Explain yourself!" Kuririn demanded with a scowl, seeming to speak on behalf for everybody. Kashiko looked nervously on, not understanding what was going on but had enough presence of mind to turn and see that Goku looked distant. Something seemed to be off to him that wasn't even taking place among them.

"There's no time to explain. This is for your safety," He replied coolly, his hairless brows knitting as his hand gripped the holster of his gun. "I repeat, step away from her. I only have one shot of saving your lives-"

"And you have to the count of FIVE to apologize for what you just said and take your hand off your gun, JACO!" Bulma yelled loudly, completely ignoring the look on her husband's face as he began looking around himself.

"You don't understand," Jaco began to say as his face beaded with sweat. "That child among you is a-"

"W-WHAT IS THAT?!" Goku cried out suddenly, his raised tone and look of pure alarm drawing everyone's gaze. Even Jaco was distracted by his outcry, given the outrageous report of him stopping a world destroyer. His face etched fear and sweat drew down his brow as he clenched his fists and eyed the skyline around him. "This power...it's...unreal! It's higher than even Piccolo's!"

At that moment, the other fighters present felt it too. A washing wave of tingling pressure like a drum pounded within their minds. It had spiked up and now seemed to be quite present. And it definitely was moving fast by the way they all could gauge.

"Kashiko," Kuririn spoke aloud, his own fists tightened at the sensation with bared teeth. "Get inside, now."

Backing up a few steps at hearing this rare tone she hadn't heard, she looked around at all the fighters with craned necks and sweating expressions. What were they feeling that she couldn't detect? Looking over at Tights who also shared a confused look, turned to Bulma as she nodded with an affirmed stare.

"If they can feel something like that, the Saiyan must have arrived," She declared, motioning to the door. "Everyone who can't fight, come inside!"

With a look of panic at the thought of the invader that he was speaking of was coming, the Patrolman completely ignored his set target. Rushing in at an impeccable speed, impressive to a human, blurred past the three women. The relatively overlooked Oolong also stumbled in as well, with Puar staying behind with Yamcha, hovering behind his shoulder as he squatted with preparation.

It wasn't until the lavender haired mother realized her daughter wasn't among them, she ran out to the door's entrance.

"Pan! Come inside-" She tried to call out when she suddenly saw a blurring form step too quietly onto the sandy beach.

Hulking in frame with spiky black as night hair that went past his waist with gold and black designed armor she had never seen before. The most curious thing that piqued her scientific side was the bleeping device blinking and audibly chirping on the side of the man's face. His eyes didn't need to look hard to find what he was looking for, immediately breaking out in a decadent grin.

"Ah, I finally found you, Kakarrot!" He declared in a language none of them but the trembling Patrolman peeking around the door frame near Bulma's leg could understand. With raised arms and a barking laugh he gestured with visible mockery. "You've grown quite nicely but I can recognize at a glance. You do, after all, have our father's face."

"Wh-What?" He inquired, blinking with more perplexity than fear. As much power as he felt coming off the long-haired individual that appeared, he could not understand a single word he spoke.

"He said, 'Ah, I finally found you, Kakarrot!'" Jaco translated, doing a terrible grated impression of the burly built man that towered over Goku. With Bulma looking at him curiously, the nervous space cop continued. "'You've grown quite nicely but I can recognize at a glance. You do, after all, have our father's face.'"

"Father?" Rōshi inquired with a tilt of his head.

"Whose Kakarrot?" Goku asked with a furrowed brow, now feeling a bit insulted being called something he's not.

The man's eyes widened, realizing he didn't understand a single word of his tongue. Not just that but spoke Basic atop of that. Scowling, he pointed his finger at him, "Kakarrot, have you forgotten your purpose? Your mission to purge this planet's populace? Does none of this ring a bell in that empty head of yours?"

"Purge the-...why would I do that?!" Goku cried out with anger, raising up a fist with retort at the large man. "I think you got the wrong idea. My name is Son Goku, and I've lived on Earth all my life. I don't know who this Kakarrot is but I'm not him."

"Impossible," The Saiyan declared with an angry twitch. "You are him! How can this be?!"

"Seems to me like you're a few screws loose man," Yamcha approached boldly, causing the likes of Kuririn and Rōshi to look on with shock while Goku held a curious stare at the scar-faced man. Striding over to the taller human-looking entity, he grinned despite himself. "It seems to me you can't tell who's who, so why don't you strut your hairy self somewhere else, kay?"

A beep was heard on the Scouter attached to the Saiyan's face, giving him a reading that made him chuckle darkly.

"You talk tough for a bug," Raditz jeered, his arms crossing over his chest. "Get lost!"

"YAMCHA!"

Goku's cry came too late. Faster than his eyes could see was a brown hued appendage whipping out and pummeling him in the gut. The force was enough to propel him back, zooming forth till he struck a materializing mattress. Distending back till it cracked the Kame House wall behind, he was seen falling flat onto his face, totally still. When Puar transformed back, he floated down to shake him and looked up at the others.

"He's knocked out cold!" He cried out with dismay.

"You," Goku began to say, turning to look at the grinning Saiyan. "Why did you do...that?"

"A-A tail?!" Kuririn declared, something that immediately made both Bulma and Pan's eyes bulge wide at seeing. Indeed, what was assumed as a brown rope belt was now waving around in front of their eyes. An appendage that everyone was all too familiar with.

As the child looked at the big man's prehensile limb and hers with bewilderment, Goku outright looked shocked with a open jaw and expressive shout, "You have a furred tail, just like Pan and I did?!"

"Ah, so you finally realize who you are," He declared, his tail already winding around his waist once more.

"Realized who-? You're not making any sense!" The Turtle Schooler retorted with aggravation, causing his sibling to contort with his own brand of frustration.

"What the Hell happened to you?! Did you get brainwashed? Did you receive a blow to your head as an infant? Explain, dammit!" The Saiyan bellowed out as he took a threatening step forward.

"I was never brainwashed...but, yeah, I hit my head," The father raised a hand to rub his angular raised tresses. "But it happened a long time ago. I don't remember what happened, but it was pretty bad...I've even still got a scar where it happened...why?"

"Pfft, of course you had to be clumsy like our mother," He spat, grimacing with mingled embarrassment and frustration. "But it does explain why you never carried out your purpose. Yes, it answers that question clearly."

"What do you mean?"

"Goku," Muten Rōshi cut in, causing his disciple to turn around and look at him along with the others with curiosity. His brow sweat but it looked as if his eyes had gained a solemn stare behind his shades. "I think...you should know something that your grandpa told me awhile back. Back when we used to have contact, he told me of a story that he raised a rambunctious child he found sealed within a strange orb that crashed in the wilderness.

"An angry kid with a wild hunger and savage behavior, he fought him tooth and nail for anything he threw a fit over. He had almost given up trying to raise him till a terrible accident occurred; in the form of a fall the boy took down a deep ravine, striking his head on the rocky bottom below. The wound seemed mortal and it took awhile before he recovered. Strangely enough the child was docile, even innocent afterwards, having no inclinations of violence that he once had."

"That kid, was me," Goku realized with awe.

"What are you saying, Rōshi?" Bulma asked from the door, looking at the man hard as he grinned cheekily at the stir he was causing. "That...Son and him are somehow connected?"

"Yeah, I think you owe us answers," The Earth-raised man pointed at the taller man whom smugly smiled. "Who are you?! Where did you come from?! And why do you call me Kakarrot?!"

Chuckling, the Saiyan seemed all too eager to elaborate with uncrossed arms hanging at his sides, soon raised to help with his explanation, "The truth of the matter is, Kakarrot, you are not of this world. Like me, you were born on a planet far away from here. A world called Planet Vegeta, home of the Saiyan race the most powerful warriors in the cosmos! You are one of us!"

A collective gasp was shared by all, while Pan simply looked on with furrowed brow.

"And as for your other question," He finished with his fists resting on his hips. "I am your brother, Raditz!"

Another share of looks of disbelief and confusion spread. Many seemed to ask questions at random but one seemed to stand out from the rest. One from a fearless, similarly dressed girl who walked up close to the big man who regarded her with a raised brow.

"So...you're my uncle?" She asked with a pair of surprised blinks. "You're...big!"

"Pan!" Bulma cried out, running from the doorway headlong to scoop her child up into her arms. When she saw the man's beady dark eyes narrow at her she felt herself shudder. Just before she glared back with her daughter clutched tightly to her chest. "Keep your eyes away, you creep!"

"Ah, so you found a mate with the natives. Adorable," He sneered with a dry laugh, turning back to Goku to continue where he left off. "But as for your reason for being here, as I said before, your mission was to purge this world of its inhabitants."

"Why would I do that?!" Goku asked, horrified at the thought of genocide by his hands.

"We may be proud warriors, but we're also businessmen," Raditz explained with a matter-of-fact tone. "There are races out there who have dying, dead or uncomfortable worlds out there who need a new one to live on instead. This demand is satisfied by our race's service of destroying the natives of a lush, fertile world like this one and make room for them. Depending on the strength of the inhabitants we send an Adult Saiyan to take care of stronger races. Others with miniscule power levels, like of this world, would most likely have sent a child.

"That is how you came to be here, Kakarrot," He continued, explaining with an ire in his voice. It switched to one of certainty as he glanced at his body and then looked up at the clear blue sky. "Yes, it would have taken even you a year or two, if you hadn't struck your skull so clumsily. The moon here is perfect, it'd been only a matter of time and opportunity before you destroyed them all."

"The moon? What does that got to do with anything?" The supposed brother inquired dubiously.

"Don't play the fool now, Kakarrot! Our true potential is only unlocked when we gaze at the moon, or have you been living under a rock this whole time?!" The Saiyan angrily shouted with an irritated wave of the hand.

In that instant Bulma felt herself trembling with a still wide-eyed Pan in her arms. Something that made Rōshi and Kuririn all shake while Tights looked beyond the door with Jaco with shared ignorance. The terrifying monster which had stirred her nightmares for years, forcing her to do all it took to keep Pan away from the light of the full moon was now explained. Looking at her husband, it made sense now.

"_My husband really is a Saiyan!_" She thought with a paled complexion.

"I don't know anything about the moon," Goku dismissed with a leaning glare. "You're still not making any sense."

A second later and Raditz gaped, looking mortified by what caught his eyes. Or rather, what he didn't see at all.

"K-Kakarrot!" The buff warrior croaked out, pointing to the space near his hip. "Your tail! Where is it?! What happened?"

"My tail?" He queried with saucer wide blinks. "I got it cut by God a long time ago."

"Y-You idiot!" The Saiyan snarled with aggravation and a balled up fist. "Do you realize what you've done?! You're walking around maimed, bereft of your precious full power! No wonder you could fit in so easily with these Earthlings!"

"That's ENOUGH!" The Turtle Schooler reprimanded with a thumb aimed at his chest. "I am not Kakarrot, this cold blooded monster you're looking for. My name is Son Goku, and I'm no brother of yours. Now get off my planet!"

"Yeah, listen to him!" Bulma cried out, snapped out of her reverie to scowl angrily at the intimidating alien. "He's no murderer! He's a hero!"

"That's right," Kuririn swung an arm around with a few brave steps forward in defense of his friend. "He's saved the world twice and fought an army for the right reasons. No Saiyan I know would do that!"

"Even if he isn't of this world," Muten Rōshi stepped forward, his cane raised and his brow furrowed behind his shades. "He's been pure of heart. He may have vices like any man, but he always defends his friends and keeps the innocent safe. He'd never follow you!"

For a moment, all the Saiyan could do before them was stew. Veins visibly throbbed across his wide brow and his knuckles cracked one by one. But before anyone could fathom what his next plan was, he just...laughed. A deep, guttural laugh that not only bewildered but scared everyone as his head leaned back.

Walking forward his broad shoulders shoved aside his brother and his wife with child in arms, striding over to stand in front of the unconscious Yamcha. With a dark smile on his face he resumed speaking in a voice all too calm for his previous demeanor, "It'll take more than mere shouts and threats to ward me off. You see, I didn't come out of the goodness of my heart for a family reunion. Our world was destroyed by a meteor of incredible size, reducing it to dust, leaving no survivors. Not even our parents escaped."

Turning to look back at his brother with a smile, he spoke in a more beckoning tone as he approached his steeled sibling, "We're a rare breed, Kakarrot. We have a Prince, named after the late king and our annihilated world, Vegeta. He's been seeking those like yourself to gather under his banner. Together we can conquer the Universe and spread our influence once more as the feared harbingers of destruction. Think about it! All of the fights you can ever want along with the spoils of anything you desire. Even if money doesn't interest you, I'm sure the thrill of challenges far beyond this puny planet could excite your Saiyan blood, right?"

For a moment, Goku seemed to grow quiet, letting his big brother even place a placating hand on his shoulder. Smiling down at him the sibling looked at him as the younger man closed his eyes and let out a calmer sigh. Reaching up he pushed the hand aside, shocking as much as angering the Saiyan.

"You're right, I may be tempted at the thought of fighting new and fantastical opponents in the stars above me," He declared, taking a stand as he smiled back ruefully at his livid relative. "But, my dream is also my wife's dream. Bulma and I will share that adventure together with our daughter. Your offer is no good to me if I have to dirty my hands and shed the blood of countless innocents!"

It was this answer that made Bulma's heart pound in her chest and her eyes well up with emotion. While Pan smiled and shouted a brief, "You tell'em, Papa!"

Raditz's expression turned from anger to a cruel smile in an instant. It was the most unnerving thing about him to the awry brother. His pools of black for eyes looked away and turned towards the fidgeting Pan whom simply stared at him with furrowed brows. With a glare almost as harsh as her father's it seemed like she understood everything that was said, making her quite smarter than the Saiyan could have foreseen. Toothily he returned his gaze back at his estranged sibling.

"Tell me, Kakarrot, how much do you love your daughter?"

The inquiry made Goku's eyes dilate and his body react instantaneously; moving without thought,he whizzed through the air with a thrusting fist. Even as he lunged the sight of his brother phasing before his knuckles like static made his angry face turn to one of shock. He didn't even see the knee that struck him in the gut, catapulting him up into the air like a cannon. Saliva and blood spewed out of his mouth as gravity claimed his pain welled body, dragging him into a thunderous crash that shook the tide lapping beach.

"Papa!" Pan cried out, slipping out of her mother's grasp quicker than the latter anticipated. Running towards him with concern, she forgot about her uncle as his big hand reached down and yanked her by the collar of her uniform. Squirming she angrily threw her small fists out, shouting with indignation rather than fear. "Let me go! How dare you hurt my papa!"

"I guess that answers that," Raditz laughed raucously as he held the feisty girl at arm's length. Hearing the sounds of rushing feet before the Scouter could bleep the long-haired man turned to see Bulma rushing forward to grasp her child. Faster than she could blink he evaporated into thin air, leaving her to skid in front of an agonized Goku who clutched at his chest while wailing in pain. Chuckling he turned to face the two crouched Turtle Style martial artists and grinned as he shook the fidgeting girl. "Don't get any ideas. If you try to take another step closer, I won't hesitate to kill this brat, even if she has Saiyan blood in her."

"W-Wait!" Goku cried out with an extended hand, a look of pleading entering his pain stricken face from the damp, sandy earth. Even as Bulma leaned down to keep him from straining himself up too soon, she also looked with a pair of watering eyes. "Don't hurt her, please!"

"Well-Well, looking a bit more negotiable, do we?" He inquired with a lean of the head. Even as Pan growled and flung herself around it was to no avail. Even her tail could only tickle the gauntlet of the hand holding her up, never fully wrap to get her a good grip. She was stuck, much to the uncle's satisfaction. "See, I have a number of things I can do to get you to agree to see things my way. I could start by killing her and then working my way across everyone you love. Or I could just take her and raise her to be a true Saiyan, though I doubt my prince would want a half-breed brat hanging around. Let's see...oh! How about this?

"Kill one hundred humans for me by this time tomorrow to prove your allegiance to your real family and kin. Do this, I'll happily release my feisty niece back to your loving woman, safe and sound. If you have a taste of more, please do kill as many as you like and just set the bodies on this beach," The Saiyan elder brother explained, chuckling at the look of horrified visages shared among the fighters and helpless wife. Shaking the uniformed girl in his grip, he sneered. "Don't worry, I won't harm a relative of mine if you do as I say. After all, we'll be coming back for her once you join us...to conquer the planet, that is."

"C-Conquer E-Earth?!" Kuririn exclaimed with a shivering thought, remembering how terrible Piccolo Daimaō's first attempt of world domination had been. Not only was he slain among a number of people, but the King of Earth was deposed. If these Saiyans were even stronger he'd see no end to the massacres they'd unleash.

"But of course, we're a warrior race after all," Raditz declared boastfully, looking away at his distant brother. "If you don't cooperate with me in a Earth day's time, your daughter's life will be mine. After the next day, it'll be your mate. The day after, the bald man. And the next day, the bearded one. Get the picture?"

Laughing with a depraved tone, he rose up high into the sky with the little girl in hand, shouting his last words, "Think about what's best for your family. Your real family, that is. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

With a sudden boom of the sound barrier being broken, he disappeared as quickly as he came.

* * *

As time crawled on the shell shocked observers eventually emerged from the house and did what they could for the mourning couple. Bulma was grieving, her eyes overflowing with tears while Goku's face was mingled with pain of both emotional loss and receiving injury. The two had no idea what to do about the insane crisis.

Kashiko had helped Yamcha inside when he regained consciousness, looking dazed and completely blown away by what he learned. Standing next to Kuririn whom was in the midst of Muten Rōshi and a Goku whose wife iced up his swollen abdomen before wrapping a salve lined bandage with it. Pulling his top back over it, minus the weighted undershirt and the rest of the unnecessary apparel he moved to walk towards the door.

"W-Where are you going?" Yamcha asked from the couch, still wincing from his own chest injury that made him want to cry out just moving. To see Goku had received a similar strike but already walk as if he didn't have it made him realized how wide apart the gap was between them.

"I'm going to bring Pan back," He declared, already reaching for the door.

"But he beat you in a single attack," Kashiko declared with an adjustment to her glasses as she looked at Goku's briefly stopped back with forlorn assurance. "If he catches you again, he'll kill you for sure and her."

"If I do what he says, people will die because of me. But if I do nothing, she dies and so will others. This is my only option in order to make sure my family and the Earth are safe," Goku announced directly, turning to look back at everyone. "Everyone needs to stay here. I don't want any of you caught up in this."

"Son-!"

"Even you, Bulma," The martial artist implored sternly, his eyes met hers as glares formed between them. "This guy is bad news. Given how he didn't hesitate to use our daughter as a hostage, I can't risk you getting caught in the crossfire."

"But I can't just sit back and let you fight that...that monster!" She exclaimed with fear in her eyes.

"Bulma, I have to do this. This is the only-" He trailed off, suddenly feeling a familiar presence. Turning towards the door as the sound of feet resting behind it, the crescendo of knocks was also heard. Reaching out he turned the knob and opened the door, revealing the towering figure of Piccolo Junior on the other side. "Piccolo!"

"I watched your confrontation with him, Son," The emerald skinned rival declared, entering with a bow and delicate turn so his caped pauldrons wouldn't strike the door panels. Looking down at him with arms crossed, he raised a brow. "I assume you're going after him to rescue that noisy brat of yours."

"And if I am?" The Turtle Schooler asked with a guarded expression.

"Then count me in," He offered with a straight face.

"W-What?" He retorted with bulging eyes as much as Bulma and the others.

"Is this the world destroyer they were talking about?" Jaco briefly whispered to Tights, who had long since given up chewing him out for not chasing the Saiyan or stopping him. "He looks unusual from the Earthling's I've seen."

"I think that's supposed to be him. Maybe he's a demon?"

"Now you really are jesting," He retorted with a roll of his neck and a shrug. "But is he that strong?"

"Very. And if you keep muttering among yourselves I may feel like shutting you up."

Covering his mouth just as quickly as Tights did, they both blinked nervously at the man who glanced at them from the other side of the room. Content that the muttering had ceased he looked back at his arch nemesis with a sneer.

"Don't get the wrong idea. We're not friends and I'm not doing this as a favor for you," Piccolo Junior assured him with a growl, raising a fist up that trembled and sported a throbbing vein of his overwhelming contempt for his enemy. "I've been planning your downfall for years and I was just about ready. Then this guy, Raditz, I heard him talk about his big Saiyan agenda with you. A lot of things add up why you stand out from the rest given your heritage of bloodthirsty warriors. If you were half as monstrous as he was, I think I wouldn't be here today.

"But I'm not here to say thanks for saving my neck from that old codger. I'm here to get you to help me kill your brother," He declared with bared fangs. "Any reservations you have of taking lives is moot since your own blood is on the line, right, Son?"

There was a brief pause as Goku considered what Piccolo said. True, even though Raditz was everything irredeemable in his eyes, he had no wish to murder him. To stoop to that level he wish he'd never become that. Not after being taught the value of life from Kami and seeing that use come about in this unexpected gesture of kindness. Even if he had selfish reasons he now felt ever-so grateful that he had indeed saved the life of this rival of his.

"If it comes to it, we'll cross that bridge together if he leaves us no choice," Goku raising his voice and a finger up to him. "You want to kill him, that's fine. But if we're both standing at the end of this, I'll make that call, got it?"

"You're too soft, Son," The Demon King sneered, turning his back at him. "But my pride has already been tarnished by his disrespect towards me. I won't stand for that, so I'll chance it by joining the likes of even you."

"Heh, look who's talking?" He snapped back, only making the taller man growl more as he stepped out the door. As he began to step out the door a pair of arms grabbed him from behind and pulled him into a tight hug. With his wife's face buried into the crook of his neck he gingerly hugged back with his face leaning in to whisper into her ear. "I'll bring her back, I promise."

"Don't keep me waiting, Son," She sniffled.

Before the two separated they shared a longing kiss. All too soon for the pair did the martial artist rush off and holler for Kintoun, allowing him to fly swiftly without wasting precious energy. Joining him in the sky was the cape and turban wearing former terror of Earth. Now joined in an effort to bring down this new invader Bulma and Tights could only look out with the rest of the company as they disappeared into the horizon.

* * *

"Stop squirming you brat," Raditz spat at Pan annoyingly, holding the child at arm's length. He had been fed up with his niece's constant useless hits on his durable frame. From ramming her head towards his protected crotch to biting his finger and then kicking his shin, she tenaciously tried anything she could to harm him. He was amused by her spirit but was slowly becoming more aggravated as time went along.

"I'm! Gonna! Beat! You! Up!" She shouted as she flailed her arms wildly towards his face.

"Oh really?" He inquired with a raised brow and a broad smile. "What are you going to do? Keep flailing angrily?"

As if it just occurred to her, a hand reached for the small pole holstered on her back. Looking at her with a bemusing stare she raised the stick to aim at his forehead. Blinking with annoyance he reached up to grab it.

"EXTEND!" She cried out, suddenly causing the stave to ram straight into his cranium and propel her back out of his grip. Crashing into a nearby boulder she felt the breath knocked out of her from the maneuver she just pulled. Even as she staggered with the elongated pole, she noted a small angry mark where she struck his skin, making him glare angrily at her. Calling it back to its normal size she ran at a swift speed for her age and size, but not enough for him to be caught off guard.

A swift grab for the tail and she felt her entire body go numb. The harshness was enough to make her be hung like a skinned animal in her uncle's grasp. Leaving the Nyoibō where it dropped, the Saiyan trod across the wasteland he had created to his impacted pod. Opening it up he tossed her in roughly, shutting it closed. By the time she got her bearings and tried to bang on the observer glass, he chuckled at the sight.

"Try as you might, you can't get out of that," He laughed at her, rubbing the soreness of the bruise that stick inflicted between his brow. Sudden bleeps and flashing symbols alerted him to distant power levels gaining proximity with every passing second. It only took him a few moments to realize who was coming for him, giving way for a deeper chuckle at his antagonists. "Come on, Kakarrot! Show me your true colors, or suffer the consequences!"

* * *

**A/N: **

**Demod20: **_And we got to this point! I had a lot of fun with this Chapter, and I'm already anticipating great things for the next update. Between the differences in the characters' reactions (with having Jaco and Pan there as the prime differences) to the little kidnapped munchkin getting a good lick in, I'm proud of the minor changes along with the entertaining dialogue I was able to type up. Hope you guys will enjoy it as much as I did working on it ^^_

**LastationLover5000**: _Woohoo! We made it to the June release date! I'm actually surprised, I started the chapter off this time and I had a blast. Unlike..what, 99.99% of the fanbase, I actually LIKE Raditz. I wrote an entire three chapter story with Raditz as the main villain, and he was a Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan. Yeah. I did that. And y'know what, I enjoyed it, the audience's horrible reaction be damned. So this was actually a LOT of fun for me. First off, we had Raditz speak his own alien tongue because I have a personal loathing for the 'Universal Language' trope that seems present in almost all sci-fi. So, we had him speak an unintelligible tongue that the Saiyan race would naturally use. There's an obvious Star Wars reference here, as I use the term "Galactic Basic Standard" for the common tongue. Remember that, in Galactic Patrolman Jaco, Jaco mentions he knows all of the languages in the Universe, and it took four hours to compile them into his brain. So yeah, other languages do exist; we've seen Nameccian (yes, its actually spelled Nameccian, but we'll use Namekian for reader convenience), and another alien tongue in Super, so not everyone speaks the common language: English. Also, to anyone who uses guns, especially sniper rifles, go easy on me, okay? I don't use them so I wasn't the best when writing my gun segment. For note, Soujh is a pun on sogekihei (__狙撃兵__, sniper), and also a reference to Sogeking, i.e. Usopp from One Piece. Also, yes, Piccolo...and Tenshinhan and I think even Yamcha...all refer to Goku as "Son" in the original Japanese version. It rolls off the tongue weird but it's canon so roll with it. So, with this chapter, we'll be back to our usual updating chapter, I'm sorry if you all dislike it!_

**Firegod00: **_Fire here, just to say I'm alive and that I'm not just some name these two invented to cover their tracks. Anyway, I'll keep this as brief as I can (brevity being the soul of wit and all). My thoughts on the chapter: Lastation's section had a really cool effect in it. Having Jaco narrate "over" the scene where Raditz took down the RR base really made it feel more terrifying to have a guy as strong as Raditz casually going up against a meager bunch of humans all while a galactic cop told of the Saiyan race's frightening capabilities...kinda sells home what they, as a whole, are.  
Demod's section was where you know things are really getting started as far as their take on canon goes. His portrayal of Raditz is already one of my favorites, feeling close to canon without BEING canon, you know? I'm also glad that he took advantage of this to make Yamcha take the hit. As a fan of TeamFourStar, I went into this expecting to mentally begin the Krillin Owned Counter. For once, I'm glad it wasn't the case. Also, Pan using the Power Pole (In case you haven't realized I tend to use dub names unlike these guys) was cute...I have no qualms admitting it.  
Anyway, I hope I did a good job of proofreading up till now. I'll also try to be more active as far as author notes, kinda adding my own thoughts of what I liked in a chapter and all that._


	9. A Powerful Enemy in Common

**The Heart of Adventurers**

**By LastationLover5000, and Demod20, edited Firegod00**

**Chapter 9 — A Powerful Enemy in Common**

Tearing out over the open ocean, the unlikely alliance were in pursuit of their enemy. It was a quiet travel, but the silence was broken by Son Goku himself. "I'm not the kinda guy who wants to be picky, Piccolo," he said, looking over at the Daimaō who was flying quickly alongside his Kintoun, "but why choose to ally with me? It's not a secret that we don't get along."

"I know how to pick my battles," replied Piccolo simply. "I'm no fool, Son. It sickens me to my stomach to admit it, but your brother is far stronger than either of us. And if I let him run free, then he will destroy this world before I have a chance to place it under my thumb. 'Saiyan' or no Saiyan, my best chance of getting him out of the picture was to saddle myself with you. But then...it will be your turn."

"Heh...I suppose I should consider myself lucky to have a strong partner right now, then!"

"You always were prone to disproportionate cheerfulness." replied the Daimaō.

They increased their speed, and could feel Raditz's _ki_ becoming larger. In hindsight, it would have been impossible to miss — Raditz was currently the largest _ki_ source on the planet, and by far the largest that Goku and Piccolo had ever felt. Closing in, the two saw something that only Goku would consider horrific. Around the crater, in which was a pod, sat Raditz. This, however, was a normal sight. It was the blood and gore that surrounded the entire area, along with a destroyed building, that shocked Goku.

Raditz must have killed all of these people.

"That...bastard...!" Goku growled, glaring down at his older brother. The Saiyan in question was staring directly up at the two with the most casual of smiles on his face. He knew they were coming, most likely through the device on his face. "How could that monster do this? All of these people!?"

"Calm yourself, Son," Piccolo advised. "There is no point in working yourself up before the battle even begins; you'll merely be a liability to me if you can't focus on the opponent in front of us. And we're here to rescue your spawn, aren't we? So focus!"

Breathing deeply, Goku relaxed himself. Pan _was_ the priority. Getting distracted would only put his daughter in further danger. "You're right; thanks, Piccolo."

"Don't get used to it."

The Daimaō descended, and Goku leapt from Kintoun, which flew freely away in another direction. Landing neatly on the wasteland ground, amidst the bodies, the party of two stared down their opponent. Goku scanned the area, looking for his daughter; his eyes fell on the Nyoibō, his trusty staff that he'd given to his daughter. Seeing it, and not the girl, made a brief wave of panic hit him, before the man could sense her _ki_; it was coming from the man's own spacecraft. "_So that's where she is!_"

"Pan! Don't worry! Daddy's coming to save you, alright!?" Goku called out towards the sealed pod.

Raditz let out a mirthless laugh, crossing his arms, his shoulders shaking from the vibrations. "Ah, Kakarrot, it appears you're a comedian. No dead daddy will be saving anyone, now will they?"

"I'm not dying here today, Raditz!" Goku shot back, as he began to pull off the weighted training _gi_ that he wore, letting the shoes, undershirt, and armbands slam to the ground. Tightening the _obi_ around his waist, a grin stretched across the martial artist's face. "I'm not comin' at you alone this time!"

"No matter how many bugs you gather, it will all end the same way, little brother," replied the Saiyan, an amused expression crossing his face. "Things would have been so much simpler if you'd simply killed a hundred Earthlings like I'd asked, I'd've welcomed you back with open arms! Now, it looks like I'm going to have to beat the pride of a Saiyan into you!"

"You talk far too much," Piccolo muttered, having shrugged off his cape and turban, both of which were weighted like Goku's. It was only then that Raditz took notice of the combat strength of his two opponents.

"_408...and only moments ago, it looks like Kakarrot's power jumped to 416..._" The Saiyan's eyes narrowed. "_Weighted training gear...elementary, but nonetheless efficient..._" Raditz crossed his arms, smirking. "So it seems like you two were hiding a little bit more power, weren't you? No matter; you could try and raise your combat strength by hundreds each, and you still wouldn't outclass _me_!"

"There's more to being a fighter than just power," replied Goku, grinning. "I guess aliens don't place much stock in anything else?"

"The naïveté of youth..." Raditz scoffed. "You truly are a disgrace as a Saiyan, Kakarrot!"

"I've heard enough!" Goku replied, and he and Piccolo moved towards Raditz within the speed of blinking. Despite not always agreeing, the two didn't even need a cue to follow the other's example. Closing in, Piccolo thrust his arm forward, throwing a solid punch towards the alien. Goku bent down, pressing to the ground with a hand and pushed himself forward, slamming his right leg up towards Raditz's chin.

Surprising the both of them, Raditz reached out a hand each and intercepted both strikes. A fist and an ankle caught firmly in his grip, Raditz smirked. "So this is the power of my little brother and the little green man? My my. Colour me disappointed."

"He—"

"—caught our blows!?"

The duo was experiencing a level of shock that neither had ever properly felt before. Besides themselves, they hadn't truly met someone who was a match for them in several years, and it was only now that they realized they may have been placing too much stock in numbers. Regardless, they had to get away, and Piccolo's hand began to glow a vivid yellow.

Raditz was tipped off by a loud beeping, and immediately let go of their hand and ankle, vanishing as a yellow kikōha flew into the distance. Trying to regain their balance, Goku and Piccolo would only look around wildly, forgetting in a panic that they could sense _ki_. This mistake would cost them; in only moments, a blur struck their bodies from the front, sending both combatants hurtling backwards in incredible pain.

"Come on, boys, I haven't even begun to play seriously!" Raditz gloated, laughing. "But why don't I let you in on a secret? Even if you manage to defeat me now, I have colleagues, far out in space; each and every one of them is my superior in strength!"

Stunned, Goku and Piccolo could only stare blankly at Raditz. It had to be a joke, right? His power was already insane, and yet he had partners even _stronger_ than he was?

Raditz continued to laugh, taking a stance. "How does it feel to taste despair?"

Struggling back to his feet, Goku could only chuckle weakly at this latest revelation. "I dunno about you, Piccolo...but to be honest, I could have lived a happy life without hearing that last bit."

"I would have thought it thrilled you, Son," Piccolo replied snidely. "Or does the great Son Goku admit cowardice when the chips are down?"

"It's more being caught with your pants down to be honest," shrugged Goku. "I've never had the best odds when I'm unprepared; but you remember that, don't you?"

"Clearly," replied Piccolo, who was savouring memories of a life gone by when he'd easily manhandled Son Goku when the latter was a child.

"_Casually talking without a care in the world..._" Raditz's eyes narrowed as he watched them with distaste. "_Have they gone mad from fear? Or what?_"

"Ready?"

"Do we have a choice?"

The two nodded at each other and rushed towards Raditz once again. Closing in, they each unleashed a physical assault that Raditz parried and fended off easily. One hand reserved for each combatant, the Saiyan warrior blocked and parried with speed his opponents hadn't yet seen, and strength they'd never before fathomed. All of it being done effortlessly, Raditz slammed a log-sized arm into Goku's stomach, sending him flying. With the thrust of a leg, his foot collided with Piccolo, and the Daimaō careened a distance away.

Skidding along the ground, Piccolo jammed the sharp nails of one hand in, cocking another back and sending a yellow kikōha towards Raditz. The Saiyan extended an arm, bracing impact for impact. The blast crashed into the hand, creating a massive explosion and kicking up dust. A self-assured grin crossed Raditz's face, confident at blocking Piccolo's _ki_ blast.

And failed to notice something thin and red speeding towards his way. It broke through the concealment of dust, colliding solidly with Raditz's stomach. His armor blocked a majority of the damage, but the blow was stunning, throwing the Saiyan warrior off his guard. When the dust vanished entirely, he saw Kakarrot, red pole in hand, bending forward in a stance clearly meant for the usage of that weapon.

"That brat's...little toy..." Raditz snarled.

"I think it was lucky I saw my trusty Nyoibō lyin' over here," Goku replied, grinning. The weapon had enlarged itself to fit its true owners grip, and it retracted from Raditz's range, becoming a bō roughly equal to Goku in height. "I told you power wasn't everythin'; it never hurts to pack a few surprises in!"

"You truly are surprising, Son," Piccolo drawled. "I never thought you'd still be relying on that annoying little stick of yours. Though I suppose if it gives the edge we need, I cannot pick and choose how we do this, can I?"

"Not if you wanna make it out of this alive," replied Goku, spinning the red bō above his head and down to his side. "Now let's go again!"

Goku and Piccolo lunged towards Raditz again, the former with his Nyoibō in hand. Raditz, however, had recovered from the sneak attack and readied himself for the enemies' assault. It was his turn to evade and dodge, showing the two the truest definition of speed as he deftly ducked or leapt over their strikes, dodging green arm and red staff alike. Landing easily on the grass, he rushed forward, pressing into the ground and extending both legs in opposite directions, landing two powerful kicks to the torsos of Goku and Piccolo.

"Have you had enough yet, Kakarrot?" Raditz asked patronizingly. "Come now, I'll give you one last chance; join your family, little brother!"

"I've heard enough nonsense, Raditz!" Goku shot back, using the Nyoibō to help himself stand. "I'm only here for my kid!"

"You really do speak nothing but nonsense!" Raditz snapped angrily. "If you insist, I'll show you a one way trip to a world of pain!" Raising an arm above his head, it crackled with a purple _ki. _"Here! A little a present for the two of you!" Swinging his hand in an arc, Raditz sent a powerful sphere of _ki_ towards the two of them. Goku and Piccolo leapt as high as they could, only just avoiding the blast, and it exploded as it hit the ground, rocking them with the shock wave as it made a gigantic crater.

"Such...power!" Piccolo gasped, as Goku could only gape. Had that move connected with them, they'd most certainly have been killed.

With a blur of movement, a dark shape appeared in front of them; Raditz had practically materialized in front of Piccolo, grabbing the Daimaō by his left arm. He kicked hard into Piccolo's torso, and with a sickening sound, ripped his arm off as Raditz sent Piccolo crashing down into the ground, landing hard into the crater made by his attack just moments prior.

"Piccolo!"

It was in Goku's distraction that Raditz took to the offensive, appearing beside his brother and landing a powerful kick to the martial artist's side. The blow rocked Goku, and he shot down towards Earth like a missile, crashing next to Piccolo with immense force.

Raditz descended from the air, Piccolo's arm gripped firmly in hand, as his two opponents struggled to their feet. "Oh my, it looks like you might need a hand," Raditz said sardonically, and casually lobbed Piccolo's severed arm towards him. Piccolo glared at the Saiyan, clutching his fresh stump, his severed arm flopping down in front of him. Purple blood was dripping from the wound, and there was a trail of it across the grass.

"Damn...Piccolo...you...you good?"

"No...this is certainly an inconvenience," Piccolo grumbled, gripping his bleeding stump. "But tell me, Son Goku, do you have any...new techniques?"

"Honestly, no..." Goku replied, lamenting his own lack of innovation. "For once, I'm fresh outta new techniques."

"You always were the lazy one, weren't you?" Piccolo grumbled. "We should both consider ourselves fortunate, however, that I am not."

"What's the matter, friends?" Raditz called out, still laughing. "Making secret little plans, are we? If that brings you comfort then feel free; it will all end the same anyway!"

"So you're saying you've got a new technique?" Goku asked, their voices hushed, ignoring Raditz's taunting. "Can you give it a go with one arm?

"The lack of a limb...is by no means a hindrance..." replied Piccolo. "However, I require time to accumulate _ki_; thus, you'll need to keep the Saiyan occupied until I'm ready."

"Tangling with him alone, eh?" Goku looked towards Raditz, who was patiently letting them formulate their plan as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Fine; you just do what you gotta do. I'll hold him off for as long as I can."

"Fate is truly an ironic thing..." Piccolo chuckled. "I devised this technique as a way of killing you..."

"And now it's gonna help me!" Goku grinned. "I like that!"

"Worry not, Son; when we fell this creature, your time will come..."

The two exchanged a macabre laugh, causing Raditz to look at them as if they were beginning to lose their minds. But if that surprised him, it paled in comparison to the shock of seeing Goku rushed towards him, bō gripped firmly in hand. Nearing Raditz, Goku swung down the Nyoibō, a whizzing sound filling the air as the bō came smashing down. Deftly, Raditz stepped to the side, and Goku firmly planted the tip of the Nyoibō into the ground, balancing on the staff and spinning, attempting to land a solid kick with this new momentum.

It wasn't enough, new tactic or not, and Raditz bent backwards to dodge the strikes, before vanishing once again and striking Kakarrot from the back. He was sent flying, but managed to stop his movement with the Nyoibō, grinding the staff into the dirt to ground himself. Raditz lunged for Goku, and Goku reciprocated in kind. The two brothers closing in on each other, Goku threw the Nyoibō into the air, thrust his hands out—

—and clapped. It was a powerful sound that reverberated throughout the air, and it came as such as surprise that it shocked Raditz, forcing the Saiyan to stop and actually blink in bewilderment.

This was the opening Goku needed. The Nyoibō fell, landing neatly back in Goku's steady grip. "Nyoibō, extend!" He commanded, and the bō grew as Goku jabbed his brother with it, forcing Raditz backwards. Then, applying pressure, Goku propelled Raditz into the air with a sharp and powerful blow from the staff to Raditz's chin. Flying upwards, Raditz had recovered, and glared down at Goku furiously.

But Goku had already cupped his hands to his sides, the Nyoibō resting at his feet. "Ka...Me...Ha...Me..."

The device on Raditz's face began to beep, and the Saiyan inspected the alien numerals that crossed the green glass. "This is impossible! Kakarrot's combat strength has jumped...to 924! And it's only increasing! Somehow...somehow he can focus all of his _ki_ into a single point...!" The device began to beep louder, furiously, and Raditz turned to look down at Piccolo, who had placed his index fingers to his forehead and was accumulating _ki_. "What!? The little green man...his combat strength has jumped to over 1,000! This is impossible!"

"**HA!**"

Goku thrust his hands forward, expelling a gigantic beam of _ki_ upwards towards Raditz. Raditz prepared himself, ready to brace against the impact as he'd done when Piccolo released his own kikōha. Goku, however, split his hands apart, separating the Kamehameha into two separate beams that ran down Raditz.

"You smart little...!" The Saiyan's hands were suddenly coated in pink _ki_ and he shot two powerful beams down to match Goku. Rather than meeting, as they'd been known to do, his beams ripped directly through the split Kamehameha, and Goku took the blasts head on, screaming in pain as his body was sent flying, _gi_ ripped. Raditz didn't miss his chance, and rocketed down towards the ground, before dashing towards Goku, who was trying to stand back on his feet. In an instant, he grabbed his brother by the scruff of freshly shredded _gi_.

"I've had it up to here showing you mercy!" Raditz snarled. "Just _die_, Kakarrot!"

"Someone _will_ die this day," snarled Piccolo from the sidelines, and Raditz craned his head to look at his forgotten opponent. And if it could have, his jaw would have dropped.

1,330.

"His combat strength has shot up to 1,330!? And all of it focused into his fingertips! How!? How can they _do_ this!?"

His fingertips brimming with _ki_, Piccolo removed them from his forehead. "You're finished, Saiyan! Makankōsappō!" Thrusting his fingertips forward, Piccolo expelled a giant beam of _ki;_ a beam with spiraling rings around it, towards Raditz. The Saiyan took the full sight of the beam in, eyes wide, and a look of pure panic crossed his face. As the beam closed in, he focused all of his efforts into evasion, and with a burst of speed, sidestepped the blast. It collided with his armor's pauldron and ripped across his shoulder, but the wound was superficial at best, only destroying the armor portion and causing fresh blood. The blast continued to fly, hitting a mountain peak in the distance and causing an explosion.

"My my my..." Raditz clicked his tongue, moving a hand across his shoulder. "That was quite the blast attack, wasn't it? Tore right through my Combat Jacket. In fact, if that had actually hit me, you two might be scraping me off the floor..."

"_I missed?! How could he move so quickly in an instant?!_" Piccolo doubted himself with silent chastisement. His body inwardly felt the strain of releasing so much concentrated energy at once. Unlike the Saiyan who had a mere flesh wound his ace in the hole had failed. With little choice in the matter, he raised trembling fingers back to his forehead.

The sight of which caused the space faring warrior to laugh sardonically.

"Oh yes, green man! Go ahead and fire that again," Raditz goaded with outstretched arms, a delighted grin of welcome challenge spread across his broad features. "It might be your only chance to kill me. Just be careful. It'll be the only one you have left."

A sudden beeping on his Scouter caused a diversion in attention. The soft sound of pitter-pattering feet rushing across disheveled soil and grass barely caught by the keen fighter's senses. Turning to look over his shoulder he saw his brother, burned and bloodied by counterattack but still moving low to the ground. Hands were outstretched, reaching for his tail waving behind his back. Palms and digits closed in on the limb, making the Saiyan realize his intentions were far from childish.

However, it wouldn't be the first time someone tried that trick.

A flick of his fifth limb avoided his awry sibling's grip and smashed into his face, breaking his nose with an audible crunch. Spitting blood and flying back he wouldn't get far; not when his brother was intent on punishing him.

"Where do you think you're going, little brother?!" The Saiyan raucously laughed, his brawny gauntlet covered hand grasped his ankle, yanking him back to earn a loud yelp. Swinging him over his head to crash into the ground, he thrashed him across the earth repeatedly as if he was a rag doll. His emerald skinned ally was petrified with indecision, unsure if charging the attack was the best course of action. The new arrival of Earth knew this and took full opportunity to land his only ally onto the ground. With a loud yell the long-maned combatant leaped casually into the air and allowed the planet's gravity to aid a boot smash right over his chest. The ground gave way, forming a considerable crater of impact with a shrieking Goku under his sole.

"Did you really think you could stop me with such a parlor trick?" Raditz asked rhetorically as he ground his foot over his kin's assuredly cracked ribs. "As long as you have a considerable battle power, even if pathetic by my standards, my Scouter will always alert me to your movements. That also goes for techniques you charge, like that little light show with before. Really, Kakarrot, you should have joined me when I gave you the chance. A chance I'll give you once more."

"N-Never!" Goku spat, blood splattering over his big brother's boot all the while glaring up at him. "I-I won't join you! Brother or not, this is my home and I won't let you destroy i-EEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"See, look what you made me do?" The Saiyan laughed darkly, hiding his disgust how repulsively stubborn his backwater raised brother was. "Don't make me kill you. Or else, who will be a father to your lovely daughter?"

"D-Dammit," The martial artist swore aloud, groaning between wheezes as let out another scream when another rib snapped.

Just as Raditz's patience had nearly run its course, his Scouter began to beep erratically. His first immediate reaction was to turn to look at the paralyzed Daimaō. But seeing that he wasn't the source he'd feel a quaking sensation rattle the earth and cause his feet to shake. Twisting his head with a whip of his hair, he saw with an awestruck expression a single figure erupting from his Attack Pod.

"You-!" Raditz cried as he saw Pan rip through his vessel as if it was made of tissue paper. With an agile flip onto her haunches, she looked up with furious anguish. Tears spilled down her face as she saw the source of her father's cries. An aura of white emitted off her uniform, sending a gust of wind around her. The ignition of light caused his bleeping tool on the side of his head to fixate on a number, one that made him croak with fear. "1337?!"

"YOU HURT MY PAPA!" She let out a fierce immature yell, her body taking off in a current of light that left her father, Piccolo and her uncle speechless.

"No! Stay away!" The Saiyan shouted with alarm, lifting up both arms and releasing a pair of rose colored beams. The same power that would easily tear apart his foes from before now only buffered the oncoming monstrous force. Petering off her mantle of wrath, Pan's expression of anger closed in on his visage of panic.

Both eyes briefly met before their heads clashed in a shower of light and a thuum of kinetic backlash. Both half breed and pure blood's eyes rolled to the back as the resulting crash that split the earth beneath their feet now separated their falling frames. Raditz fell onto his back -consequently atop of his injured brother- just as Pan did, both bearing bloody gashes sliding down their faces.

"Wh-What incredible power!" Piccolo gaped, his trembling fingers finally lowered to his side as he breathed a sigh of relief. The Saiyan's _ki _finally lowered down to near zero, the side effect of him being knocked unconscious. "Son Goku, your daughter is even more impressive than you. You really have been slacking off."

"Hahaha, believe me, I'm just as clueless as you," Goku weakly chuckled, still grimacing as he worked his way from underneath his brother's limp body.

"Still, it seems that brat was taken out too. Which means I'm the only left to finish the job-"

"Wait!" His rival shouted, shakily stand up with a lurch in his step.

"Oh come ON, Son!" The Daimaō groaned with teeth gnashed frustration. "He nearly killed you and wouldn't have hesitated to do the same to your spawn. Hell, we're lucky to be alive! If he wakes up, he'll be even more angry and be less inclined to spare us than your soft heart is!"

"Oh yeah? If we kill him, what then? What about his partners in space?" Goku asked weakly, a bitter smile working its way onto his bloodied face. Despite his wrecked condition, Piccolo twitched silently at what he said. Feeling like he was given the go ahead, the martial artist continued with a more stern countenance. "Face it, the only reason we got lucky was because of Pan. If things kept going the way they were, we'd be dead now or worse. If what he says is true, which he doesn't seem to be the lyin' sort, his friends are goin' to be less friendly than he is. We don't know a thing about them. If we kill him now without even knowing what they're capable of, we'd be back to square one."

"You're insane, you know that?" Piccolo sneered, focusing on his bloodied stump. He remembered the pain of how that sibling of his worst enemy tore his arm clean off. If there was more of them even stronger, who knows what they'd do to him? Sighing, he stoically stared back at Goku with a sound of resentment in his throat. "I don't like this. Keeping him prisoner could end your life quicker."

"Better than waitin' for somebody to kill us later," Goku countered with a light chuckle.

"Fine," Piccolo scoffed, grunting as he ejected a new arm out of his stump, finally gathered the energy necessary to pull off his feat of regeneration. As he examined it with satisfaction, he flicked his finger towards Pan, causing her to float up into the air and into his grip. When Goku's expression turned panicked he just smiled calmly at him. "Relax, Son. If we're going to stand an iota of chance, I'm going to train your child the right way to fight. With her latent potential being so high, she may be one of our only chances of matching those monsters."

"I guess I got no choice. I can barely move as it is," Goku chuckled with a weak smile. It'd disappear all too quickly, his glare one of the utmost seriousness. "Promise me you won't let her die."

"I've got no obligation to protect her if she turns out to be weak," His arch rival replied, his own smile turning into a disgusted snarl. "But sure, I'll make sure she doesn't die. My life is riding on the line for her becoming a stronger fighter than me anyways. Though, if we make it through this it's back to business as usual, got it?"

"Whatever you say, buddy," Goku laughed weakly. Watching him rise into the air and fly off into the horizon, he let himself fall back onto the ground with a grunt of pain. It wasn't long till he heard the sound of engines thrumming in the horizon, the sight of Bulma's Capsule Jet rushing headlong towards his location. Closing his eyes, he groaned with realization. "How am I going to explain this to Bulma?"

* * *

In a far off planet, the transmission had ended from the low level fighter, Raditz. The one listening in was of similar appearance but drastic change in features. With hair up-turned like a torch of black from his crown the stout shorter Saiyan bore blue fabric intertwined with yellow guards for his weak spots and white protective mesh for his body. With a rose colored Scouter beeping off over his left eye, he let out a derisive chuckle. Turning to look at his cohort, a bald burly brute who put even their errand runner to shame in sheer stature wore gold protectors and black mesh, but had his arms and legs exposed to show ripped muscles.

The two were feasting on the flesh of bipedal enemies, reptilian in nature and only a pile of limbs picked to the bone sat in front of them. Their bodies were gathered into dozens of piles stories high, charred from the burning that was taken place. Their mission had ended hours ago and they were ravenous. Lacking any real protein on this world save for the denizens they wiped out, they had taken the opportunity to use their dead for a feast. Listening in on their cohort it was to the dismay and surprise that he had failed.

Though such surprise didn't remain, as the aforementioned laughter ensued.

"Well-Well, it seems Raditz has failed his mission to recruit his long lost brother," Prince Vegeta announced, holding his half chewed arm in one hand while stroking his chin with deviousness. "What a disappointment he became."

"What do ya wanna do, boss?" General Nappa inquired after swallowing another chunk of burnt meat.

Standing upright, the proud Prince of all Saiyans tossed aside his snack with a dark smile armed on his face, "Gather the others. It's time I punished our failure of a Saiyan and I'd like to make him an example."

* * *

**A/N:  
LastationLover5000: **_Whoo BOY was this chapter a doozy and a fun one to write. It took a little longer than our others, I think, but I'd had writers block for the longest, and in addition to writing my primary story, yeah, that was quite the detriment. But this was the chapter I was really looking forward to us doing; anyone who has seen my Raditz-central three chapter story knows that I like Raditz very much, so it is no surprised that Demod and I kept him alive, is it? Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Thanks to Firegod00 for a proofread, and we'll see you all real soon!_

**Demod20: **_Wow, this chapter made me feel a bit unleashed compared to my coauthor. While he ripped off Piccolo's arm, I made Raditz go complete dark as he ragdolled his brother and stomped him into the dirt. But it was still a lot of fun! Seeing Pan make the valiant takedown for her daddy and Goku SURVIVE along with his brother was a nice change from the canon (Though at this point, would you care about canonicity?). But as few lines as I wrote, the most fun I had was describing Vegeta and Nappa, just waiting to go take on our heroes. Given our tardiness this time around we'll definitely get the next update done this coming October. See you guys then!_


	10. The Path to Power

**The Heart of the Adventurers**

**By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, edited by Firegod20**

**Chapter 10 - The Path to Power**

* * *

The trip home was one of uncomfortable silence. The moment Bulma's Capsule Jet touched down she was racing madly to Goku's side, wrapping him in a fierce embrace full of concern and anxiousness. Painful as it was, he returned it with all the strength he could muster at the moment. But when she asked about Pan, he told her an explanation back home was necessary.

While it took a great deal of stubborn will and negotiation to get her to transport his unconscious brother, the others who had accompanied his wife -including her sister, Tights- had remained adamantly silent. With Bulma containing her fury, brewing it for a brutal reprisal, they returned to not Kame House but Capsule Corp. There she had the proper facilities to not only examine the tech and material of their invader but also withdraw their meager Senzu stash.

Having kept a spare bag from Karin over the years, they ordinarily didn't need it but the emergency was having Goku on standby while a less than stellar sibling was still unconscious. When everyone was gathered around the Turtle Schooler did Bulma finally rear her head to look expectantly at Goku. When he explained in a brief summary of his battle with his awry brother and how Pan was taken to be trained by Piccolo did he see it didn't make things easier.

If anything, the tension had escalated.

"So, let me get this straight, Son," Bulma rang out, her brow visibly twitching like her foot was impatiently tapping against the floor. "Not only did you let OUR daughter get kidnapped by your worst enemy-"

"He's not so bad anymore," Goku tried to assure his wife, having healed up but still winced at the idea of being smacked in anger. There was nothing scarier to him than a livid Bulma. "And he didn't leave me much of a choice. I was kind of too beat up to stop him after Raditz kicked the tar out of me."

"ALSO THAT!" She shrieked, much to everyone present's discomfort. They all looked awkwardly away as she pointed at the makeshift cot placed in the middle of the room, housing the bandaged Saiyan. Apart from the head injury, he had only a scathing mark on his shoulder from Piccolo's new move. The only thing removed from his person was the fancy Scouter, currently lying on a desk in the workshop they all collaborated in. Pointing at him specifically, she continued to rant at her shrinking husband. "THAT MURDEROUS ALIEN BASTARD MAIMED YOU AND KIDNAPPED OUR DAUGHTER FIRST! By all rights, he should be DEAD! So, why did you beg me not to put a gun in his mouth and blow a hole big enough for the Sun to shine through?!"

"I...I can't just let him die," He weakly began, only spurring the lavender haired woman's wrath to crimson flushed proportions. Raising his hands he spoke more urgently. "I mean, he's the small fish, right?! We don't know what the rest of them are capable of. We were caught so off guard Piccolo and I barely won, with Pan's help too! If there are guys who make him look like a pushover, we need to know how they think, how they fight and more importantly just what we're up against. Killing him not only would be a waste but also our biggest mistake to avoiding unnecessary death."

It was incredibly insufferable to the lavender haired woman how right her husband was. Though she outwardly exuded outrage and exasperation, inwardly she couldn't help but admit there was truth in his actions and his words. Petty revenge couldn't extract any information on this extraterrestrial threat.

"Come on, go easy on him," Tights urged her sibling, placing a hand on her shoulder. They met eyes and she smiled back in a calmer manner than the younger sister felt. "The important thing is that Pan's okay and Goku won. We can't cry over spilled milk so what's done is done."

"I swear, you'd spoil him if you had the chance."

"Haha, maybe," The blonde sister replied with a laugh, sticking her tongue out teasingly at her sister.

"So, Bulma," Kuririn piped up, being among the many who were looking on with nervous silence at their captor and their host couple. Turning his head towards the table he reached out to grab the scarlet lens device the Saiyan was wearing. "Have you figured out how this gadget works?"

"Mostly," Bulma replied, snatching it away from the dwarf with a frown. Attaching it to her face for emphasis, she began adjusting the switches and red dial from where most of the controls presided. A myriad of alien text flew over the screen as readings came over each person she laid eyes upon. "It seems to act as a transceiver of data. From what Goku could tell me, he seems to know how strong a person is, I just don't know how. Perhaps it reads thermal levels inside living beings and actually can calculate Ki into a numerical setting? I'm still working out the kicks, maybe I can translate it into something I can understand if I'm given more time."

"The time for that is over!" Jaco yelped out, seeming to hide behind a purple-white trash can at the far end of the lab. If his voice could emulate what his facial features couldn't, it was the evidence of his sheer terror of a particular person's movement. "He's awake!"

Sure enough, everyone seemed to flinch at once to see the Elite Saiyan Warrior grimacing upright. Rising upright from the cot, he clutched his bandaged head in reflex and found himself stopping outright. When his vision corrected the glares, he realized he wasn't dead or at the ruined battlefield. He was at an Earthling facility, full of his enemies; with Kakarrot being chief among them.

"You-!"

"Heya," Goku replied cheerily, trying to keep an amiable display to cool his hot-headed sibling. Even though his wife shot angry darts of defiance, the rest followed Jaco's example to cower or take up defensive positions. Despite all of this, their savior looked none the worried.

Raditz, on the other hand had moved to stand aggressively from the bed. The result had him almost teeter onto the floor, his body barely kept upright. Clenching his crown, he looked up with eyes barely able to fixate on him.

"Kakarrot," He sneered, his teeth bared like an animal. "I hope you understand the consequences of sparing an enemy. Your loved ones will pay for it!"

"You banged your head up pretty good," The Earth born Saiyan replied, tilting his head to the side while blinking with an innocent look on his face. "I'm all healed up and yer barely able to stand. Do you really wanna go, right now?"

The elder brother flinched at such blunt accuracy the younger of the two stated. While the surface logic was that Goku could fight better that he's healed and the other couldn't because of his head injury, Raditz knew there was more to it than that. The backwater raised child indeed has now a power much greater than their last encounter and the results of a rematch, especially in his current state- will be much less fortunate.

Visibly twitching he sat back on the cot, stewing as he growled out a simple inquiry, "What do you want, Kakarrot? I'm not tied up but with your brat destroying my ship, it's likely I'm stuck here. That is, unless I can call someone to pick me up, as doubtful as that is..."

When he trailed off, Goku was about to open his mouth but Bulma actually piped up ahead of him.

"Actually," She huffed, relieved that the monster who assaulted her family was less wrathful than she feared him to be. With a ray of safety permeated by her husband she raised up the Scouter while frowning at her brother-in-law; much to his visible alarm. "I've been tinkering on this little doo-dad you got stuck to her face when you were KO'd. While I can't understand the text I was able to decipher it was feeding information to someone else. Is that your pals you mentioned?"

Raditz paled.

With cold sweat cast across his body the fear of what had transpired much to his realization damned any idea of calling for help. His vision swam as he almost passed out from the stupor that he was under. The sight of Goku approaching him -out of concern or pity he didn't know- made him snap out of it, and gestured with a sign of repulsion.

Still, he looked around the room and finally spoke in a tone more grave than anyone pictured him to speak, "It is likely in my carelessness that I have let my Scouter open for outgoing and incoming transmissions. My partners in space heard everything that happened. Even now, they could be listening in and are likely headed this way."

"W-What?!" Kashiko cried out, looking frightened as she exchanged glances with an almost equally terrified Kuririn. "Why would they do that?"

"The Prince doesn't tolerate failures. I was already on thin ice with him as it stands," Raditz explained, his eyes looking down, not bothering to address the couple. "My last effort to impress him was to bring my long lost brother into the fold, and increase our ranks with a potential elite warrior. Instead, I lost outright. He's coming to make me a public example in front of all of his men."

"Th-Then, are we screwed?!" Yamcha questioned, stepping forward with arms waving frantically as he looked at the attacker with renewed panic. "T-They aren't that much stronger than you, right?!"

"They're all stronger than me," Raditz laughed sardonically, turning to fix a dark eye with a morbid sense of humor at the scarred faced ex-bandit. "I'm the weakest among them."

The statement made even Goku almost fall onto his back.

"W-W-Weakest?!" He questioned with a stuttering start, finding it almost harder to believe. Before his statement about partners made him think only two people stronger than him. The way he said it, it sounded like there were even more of them and he didn't even compare. "You beat us, Piccolo and I, outright! Made it look easy! Just how many of these guys are we talking about?"

"Look," Raditz growled, his head turning with a shake, his hand not leaving his throbbing skull. "I can't think see straight, let alone think, with this head wound. If its possible if your fledgling planet's equivalent of medical equipment can patch me up better than a simple dressing, I'd appreciate you fork it over. I'll be happy to spill my guts so long as I can get rid of the pounding drums in my skull!"

"Oh, sure," Goku shrugged as he fished into the brown bag tied to his martial arts gi sash. Much to the aghast of his present company, he pulled out a Senzu and flicked it over to the Saiyan. He caught it, and looked at the tiny green bean suspiciously, looking back up at his awry brother with a raised brow. "It's a Senzu! Eat it, and your wounds are gone, along with a full belly haha!"

"Never took you for the magic type, little brother," He muttered, observing the green substance between his two fingers with an eye squinting at it. Popping it into his mouth, he grumbled as he chewed it. "This seed tastes of fish. I wonder if that bump to your head has made you lose your ability to-"

Swallowing, he felt a sudden strange sensation. The burned skin on his shoulder suddenly knitted back fresh skin, his subtly grumbling belly was sated and the pounding in his head disappeared. Blinking with perplexity, he pulled the head-dress off his crown and felt for the gash. With a slack jaw mouth, he even felt even better than he had since he got on the water filled rock of a world.

"What sorcery is this?" The Saiyan sputtered out as he stood to his feet, able to see the laboratory clearly. Turning to look at Goku who just smiled cheekily, the Saiyan also noticed the blonde sister of his brother's wife. Sharply glaring at her he had half a mind to tell her off but just rolled his eyes. "You know what? That's not important, but handy to have.

"You want to know about my _coworkers_, Kakarrot?" He phrased sarcastically, a common in-joke he and the others passed around for being under a particular tyrant's thumb. When he saw that Goku's countenance had hardened, he was content to cross his arms over his chest, ready to begin debriefing the closest chance he had to surviving the prince's reprisal. "We're a motley crew but established a particular reputation in the galaxy. Our boss is named Vegeta, the last heir to a dead world thanks to its untimely destruction and most of our people gone. With him is Nappa, our general, and second only to our head honcho. Underneath them is Aspara, the Squad Captain, with Gula, Bocho, Coll and Kuka as her subordinates."

"So, they're weaker than the other two?" Goku asked directly.

"Yes, by leaps and bounds," Raditz expressed with a slight lean forward. "But that doesn't make them less of a threat. Aspara's battle power is closer to our general's which means she could easily way waste to your world on her own. The others are possibly twice if not three times stronger than me. They could kill you and your green friend in the blink of an eye."

"If you don't mind me asking?" Bulma interrogated with a questionable cross-armed glare of her own. One that made the Saiyan nearly gawk at her brazen tone to him, a physical superior. It boggled his mind how fearless she acted. "How come you've lived for so long if you're supposedly weaker than them? What's kept them from just discarding you?"

"They nearly have, on a number of occasions," He intoned with a sneer, turning back to look at his brother again as he calmed down. "That's why they're coming here. To finish the job left undone and put me through a humiliating execution in the process. I've only lived for as long as I have as the prince's shadow, his bodyguard. I've never been through as many life threatening situations as the others, thus they've reaped the benefits of surviving through them. I, however, remained stagnant yet unharmed."

"Coward."

"Maybe," The Saiyan darkly replied, furrowing his brows as he clenched his fingers across his broad arms. To everyone's eyes he was near the point of shaking, his visage gnashing with indignation. "But I'll be damned if I die like my parents; our parents, Kakarrot! They died without even given the chance to fight! I don't know about you but I'll do everything in my power to survive, even if it means I have to side myself with you backwater cretins!"

Bulma felt the urge to snap at being called such, but her advancement was halted when she felt her husband's hand grip her shoulder. Soft but firm, she turned to look at him, noticing the stoic look so unlike him was kept. Everyone as an audience engaged with rapt attention as the strongest among them took vested interest in what Raditz said.

"You keep bringing them up, but I have no memory of them," Goku plainly spoke, his breath hitched as if he was nervous of even asking. But, with his eyes closed, he opened them to ask straight out. "What were they like? Our parents, that is?"

The first emotion to cross Raditz was infuriation. He was already on his wit's end of how disrespectful to anything Saiyan that his amnesic brother had, but his lack of memory of anything regarding his past made him want to strangle him. Yet, when he asked with such a serious tone, he couldn't help but feel himself become a bit sobered.

"When was the last time I thought about them?" The elder Saiyan questioned himself as he blinked hard at his sibling. Inhaling through his nostrils, he exhaled with a growl. "Our parents are perhaps the least Saiyan of all our race. At least, that's what my boss kept telling me, even as children.

"Our mother, Gine, was a loving woman who adored her children and her mate. She doted on me to the point of it being insufferable and she lacked any talent in fighting. Yet our father, Bardock, loved her...truly. We Saiyans rarely bond with anyone beyond camaraderie as combatants in tight knit groups. Yet they genuinely shared that emotion, something they were despised or mocked for. They never did it openly, for our father was a stout warrior and one of our race's strongest for its time.

"The last I heard from them was when that meteor hit our planet and killed everyone on it. They were counted as among them," He finished with a hardened look, while his brother's had unraveled to near disbelief. The surprise colored his features like paint on a sleeve, something that Raditz couldn't blame him for. No one would believe that a Elite Warrior such as himself could be considered parented by such uncouth parents, regardless of their genes. "It is just one more disappointment added to my name. Imagine, my brother never carried out his mission of purging this world's populace and ended up protecting it while our father and mother didn't even retain their own pride as Saiyans. I am part of a cursed bloodline, one doomed to roll over dead underneath the boots of someone greater."

Silence rang like a gong when he spoke. There was genuine pain in his voice, even if the reasons weren't fathomable to them. To incur his wrath by calling him out would only fan the flames he buried beneath the surface needlessly. Goku sighed, unsure if saying anything was the right thing to do. Scratching his angular scalp, he looked over to Bulma for what to do.

Instead, her sister walked up to Raditz, seemingly unafraid of his steely gaze that turned to her approach.

"That's no good," She piped up, a simple smile spread across her face. "You can't beat yourself up for what's happened. Just focus on the here and now. If you always go around blaming yourself for everything that's gone wrong, you can never move forward. Goku got strong not because he pitied his lot in life. Perhaps if you looked to the future, maybe you can get strong enough that you'll never feel so down about being weak?"

It was like being hit by an asteroid in his blind spot. He had not asked or expected someone to come up and give him encouragement. This Earthling woman came up to him with kindness in her eyes and compassion in her voice. It wasn't even simplicity like his brother, but just a nonchalant attitude that spoke years of experience through tribulations and personal hardships.

Shaking his head, he cleared his throat as he tried to forget the dark eyes that had bored into his own confused orbs, "Kakarrot, if we're going to plan out a strategy for standing up to the others, we must bring the green man and your spawn here. Where are they?"

"Oh, Piccolo and Pan? They're out training," He answered lackadaisically, chuckling as he rubbed his nose with a sheepish smile that earned his wife's visible ire. "I think he realized how strong she was and wanted to get started on an invasion. That guy's always thinking one step ahead of me."

"Right," He huffed, unfurling his arms to get a look at Jaco. The mere stare sent shivers down the lidless Galactic Patrolman's spine. "You. Bug eyed one."

"Excuse me-?!"

"Yes, you," The Saiyan interrupted, his hand raised to point at him then thumbing over his shoulder. "I've got a job for you. Go get somebody to gather your planet's strongest warriors. Get them started on training right away and tell them that it's bigger than anything they've ever faced. Understand?"

"But-But-But," Jaco stammered, his body waving with exasperation with his mouth agape. "I don't even LIVE here!"

"Oh just DO IT, Jaco," Bulma chimed in, shooting daggers from her eyes that made the diminutive patrolman's body recoil in fright. If there was one person he was more scared of than the Saiyan in the room, it was Bulma. "I'll direct you to Karin's Tower. Yajirobe is most likely hanging out there and he'll track the others down quickly."

"Eh...fine," He submitted with a arm-crossed sign of reluctance. "Not like I can just leave Earth as is. The paperwork would be too much..."

"Training, huh? It's been awhile since I've had to do that," Kuririn chimed in with a broad grin, getting excited despite himself. Turning to Yamcha, he raised a closed an upraised fist to his scarred friend. "What do you say, buddy? Ready to get back into the thick of it?"

"Hell yeah!" The taller scraggly haired man punched an open palm with visible eagerness. "Wanna get some payback but hitting the big guy's friends will be enough. I wonder where we should go to do this."

"Why not train under me?"

A sudden new voice made everyone go still. When everybody looked to see a green skinned, antennae adorned visitor stand next to Goku, everybody jerked with surprise. Even Raditz stepped back at the sight of somebody teleporting into their midst. He had almost half a mind to strike him just for startling him, was it not for Goku's casual turn and greeting to him.

"Hey, God!" Goku piped up with a raised wave of his hand. "Nice to see ya! How's life been treatin' ya?"

"Same as always, Goku," He replied mirthfully with a slight smile. Holding his cane tightly in his hand he turned to observe all of the beings huddled in the room, his eyes looking suspiciously at his student's brother looming behind him. "It seems you keep acquiring newer and stranger company every time I look. You sure its wise relying on him?"

"The better question is, are you smart enough to realize I'm one of your only hopes of surviving a Saiyan onslaught?"

"It's fine," Goku answered, ignoring his brother's challenging grin that goaded his master into confrontation. "He's with us for now. Piccolo is too."

"Hm, that much I could sense," The God of Earth affirmed with a grunt. Looking at the fighters in the room, he smiled as he acknowledged them. "Yamcha, Kuririn, it's good to see you in good health. As I asked before, would you like to train under me? My palace is a bit empty and with this crisis on our hands, the more prepared you are, the better."

"Ha! Sounds great!" Yamcha answered readily, feeling even more thrilled. The place where Goku gained tremendous strength that enabled him to beat Mao Junior, a spectacle he could still remember to this day.

"I'm sure Tenshinhan and Chaozu will want to come too!" Kuririn exclaimed with readiness.

"All the more reason our world's guest should hurry in his errand," He turned to look expectantly at Jaco. His stare intimidated the overwhelmed patrolman even more, as if he was staring into a legend itself past the wrinkles and unearthly bags underneath his eyes. "That is, if he doesn't mind..."

"I'm going, I'm going!" He shouted impatiently, rushing out of the lab. "Tights, contact me with directions! I'll start up my ship to make this an easy task!"

With the patrolman gone, the others excused themselves from the laboratory of Bulma and Goku's house to get their things ready. They knew that Goku's master didn't desire tardiness so they made the utmost effort to grab what they needed for the training required of them. Tights was told by her sister the longitude and latitude for which to locate Karin's Tower, thus leaving the sibling, her husband and one last look of curiosity at Raditz.

Everyone dispatched left only Bulma with Goku, his brother and his master.

"I understand the magnitude of our threat after a little talk with my other half," He intoned, his words growing quiet and somber with Goku looking at him likewise. "Our threat is even more dire than the era of Piccolo Daimaō. If your brother is but the tip of the iceberg, we cannot hope to win by ordinary means; you cannot win by what is normal for you."

Sighing, Goku smiled sloppily as he scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I was thinking the same. I mean, Piccolo could make a great sparring partner and it'd help me keep an eye on Pan but I don't know if we could be ready in time. Speaking of which," He turned to look at his brother over his shoulder with a curious expression. "When do you think they could get here? You said soon, but I kinda need to know."

"From where I last had contact with them, it could take the equivalent of one Earth year," Raditz answered bluntly, twitching as he looked to the side with worry. "Possibly less...I don't know."

"A year? That's going to be cutting it close," Bulma grumbled with a hand stroking her chin. "Not even dad's toughest prototypes could give you the workout you'd need. I don't even think a year with Piccolo could be enough to match someone many times your strength..."

"Not unless you trained under Kaio," The older deity intoned with a sly grin.

"Who?" Goku asked with an owlish blink, something even Raditz shared with visible perplexity.

"He's a god above my station, overlooking the northern galaxies and keeping an eye on them. He also happens to be one of the strongest martial arts teachers you'd find," He explained with a wave of his free hand. "The only catch is that his domain presides in the Afterlife. If you had died valiantly against your brother, I'd have brought you straight to him. But seeing that you survived, I can recommend you based on your merits in life of being a righteous hearted warrior. I'm sure Enma won't deny such claims as being worthy enough to make the journey."

Raditz had to hold back a scoff. Gods? He knew of no such omnipotence but the unforgiving harshness of fate has dealt him. War was all he knew and what he considered family was cast to the ashes and obscurity. Still, the fact that his brother was a "chosen one" made him sneer with disgust of how unlike a Saiyan the awry sibling continued being.

"Wow! The Afterlife?! Boy, I didn't think I'd go there so soon!" Goku laughed giddily, already shaking with excitement. Another adventure awaited him, and for a moment, he almost wanted to insist on bringing his wife with him. But he knew...that she couldn't follow where he'd go.

Sobering up, he cleared his throat and politely bowed to his master with clapped hands, "Master, I'm honored to join you, but I have to say goodbyes to Bulma. Is that alright?"

Nodding with affirmation, God took a few steps back to give them space. There he'd witness Son Goku and Bulma turn to embrace tightly, something that made the aloof elder Saiyan turn away with crossed arms. The annoyance was there but he tolerated it if only he knew he had little say in the matter.

"I wish I'd come with you, but I don't think the Afterlife is a place for me just yet," Bulma whispered, nuzzling into the crook of Goku's neck. Rubbing his back she felt her eyes water, a sense of loneliness creeping up with fear of the worst transpiring in her beloved's departure. What if he didn't come back in time? What if something happened to Pan? These questions raced in her mind but her husband sensed it and responded accordingly.

"Bulma, I'll come back, stronger than I am today," He spoke with confidence, smiling softly as he relinquished his hold on her. With his eyes meeting her watery ones, he felt compelled to wipe the tears away. A swipe over each eye led to cupping her face, bringing both to unite in one long kiss goodbye.

Leaving her side, he'd come up to Raditz, staring him hard in the eyes. An unusual intensity was about his dark orbs, similar to the kind he had when Pan's life was threatened. Speaking in a soft voice that carried just as much danger if he screamed, he warned his brother quietly, "Raditz, I spared you because not you're my brother, but that I think you're my family and planet's greatest hope. But if you do anything to harm my friends, my world or my family be ready to accept the consequences; I won't be sparing you again."

"Heh, sure," Raditz grinned broadly, his eyes enticing his brother to make good on his promise. "Then again, compared what I'd have done will seem like a mercy to what my friends will do. They tend to play with their food more often than eat it."

"Don't worry," Goku breathed out, turning around to walk back to his master while eyeing him over his shoulder. "They'll get what's coming to them too."

"I love you, Son," Bulma called out to her husband as he touched God's shoulder. When he looked back at her, she conveyed an expression between hope and apprehension. The thought of them separating after years of being together now scared her far more than it had years back.

"Yeah," The martial artist responded with a reassuring smile, just moments before he disappeared into thin air, whisked away into the next world. "You too."

* * *

**The Afterlife**

Whatever Goku had thought the afterlife would be like, a busy office-setting would certainly not have come to mind. When God arrived with him at their destination, the martial artist was shocked to see blue-skinned individuals with horns rushing around, wearing collared shirts with ties, spectacles in some cases, and carrying documents. He distinctly heard among the shouts mentions of 'deadlines' and 'unique cases' and something about a glut of people from planet 877 of 4032, whatever that meant.

Looking around further, he craned his neck behind him to see what appeared to be a veritable line of clouds; they were all uniformly white and similarly sized, and the line extended well outside the door of the building that God had brought him into. It was only when Goku focused his full attention in front of him that he realized he was standing in front of an immense wooden desk, far taller than any building he'd seen outside of the center of the Western Capital.

"Whoa!" The Saiyan gasped, taken aback by the presence of the massive desk. "It's _huge!_" If he craned his neck further, he could even see there was a gigantic figure looming over him, stamping papers with an almost bored expression on his face. He was possessed of red skin, beady black eyes, and shaggy black hair and beard. He wore a purple suit and a cap of matching colour with horns jutting out of either side. It was only after the man noticed that the line had stopped moving that he bothered to look up from his work, and his beady eyes widened at the sight of God and Goku.

"Well now, just what brings you here, God?" When the man spoke, his voice was loud and booming, more so due to his stature than any conscious effort on his part to be loud. "It isn't often that you visit Devil Realm!"

"Ah, yes; forgive me for not announcing myself, Enma Daiō!" The green-skinned deity replied hastily. "My arrival here was a bit unplanned, but allow me to introduce you to my companion: Son Goku."

Goku looked over at the towering man, and with a grin, waved cheerfully. "Yo! I'm Son Goku!"

"Goku, that isn't how you greet someone of Enma Daiō's station!" God hissed fearfully, but Enma merely laughed.

"Now, God, don't chastise him; I haven't met someone with this kind of audacity in three hundred years!"

"B-But—"

"See, he's a swell guy!" Goku replied, grinning, and God could only hang his head in resignation.

"Now, why don't you tell me why you're here?" Enma continued, resting his cheek on his fist with a cheeky grin. "Forgive me, but it doesn't appear as if Son Goku is dead, nor is he dead but has kept his body." Looking through his book, the ogre frowned. "It seems as though he was _supposed_ to die today; this is certainly unique. However, just bringing him here has shattered several of the afterlife rules; you know this, don't you, God?"

"P-Please forgive me," replied the aged deity with urgency. "However, I would like to make a special request for Son Goku using my position as the God of Earth. There are a group of Saiyans heading towards Earth, and should they arrive, they will kill each and every last Earthling. Next year, from their arrival, you will have the entire population of Earth at your desk within a week, Daiō."

"The...the entire population!?" Enma thundered.

"Y-Yes, sir," replied God meekly. "That is why I want to propose that we allow the young man to train under Lord Kaiō, after crossing the perilous Snake Way!"

"A mortal on Snake Way..." Enma muttered, flipping through his grade-book. "Goku, you have quite a few meritorious achievements to your name, it would appear — in fact, someone of your prestige would simply be _awarded _the privilege to see Lord Kaiō. And yet, God, you want the young man to journey along Serpent Road — in a living body no less — to meet Lord Kaiō?"

"Y-Yes, that's correct," replied God once more.

"Say, God, does everyone come over here when they die?" inquired Goku. "Even aliens an' things like that?"

"Well...I brought _you_ here, did I not, Son Goku?"

Goku began to laugh, scratching the back of his head. "I guess that's true an' all. So I'm comin' here when I die. Whaddya know?"

"Alright, if you're so keen to go train under Lord Kaiō, then go ahead," replied Enma, stamping firmly under Goku's name in his book. "I shall mark it as a 'special exception due to extraneous circumstances'. As a final aside, remember that management bears no responsibility for anything that happens on Snake Way. Go see the ogre next the exit and he'll take you there."

"Thanks!" Goku grinned, making his way towards the exit.

"Good luck, Son Goku," said God as the Saiyan was leaving. "You will truly need it in this coming year."

* * *

It didn't take long for Goku's guide to arrive in the form of a blue ogre with glasses; the wiry ogre invited him into a car, and they drove a fair distance towards Goku's final location: Snake Way.

"Heya, what's this 'Kaiō' like?" Goku inquired suddenly, either out of actual curiosity or just to break the monotony.

"Lord Kaiō?" repeated the ogre. "He's one of the Universe's higher ranking gods, and is in fact one of several 'Kaiō'. For our section of the Universe, the North, he is one of the most revered and respected gods, as well as a venerable master of martial arts. Even Enma Daiō and your Earth's God hold Lord Kaiō in great respect!"

"Oh...so he's super impressive, ain't he?"

"Bingo!" replied the ogre, as the car came to a stop. Stepping out, Goku saw 'Snake Way' in all of its glory; a literal snake shaped road that stretched and curved into the far distance, vanishing into the horizon. He squinted, trying to see further, but even his impressive eyes could only see so much of the road before Goku had to give up. "It's...how long is it!?"

"According to the legend, about a million kilometers," replied the ogre cheerfully.

"_A million!?_" Goku trilled. "Has anyone every reached the end of this thing!?"

"Just one person. Enma Daiō, and it was just in the past hundred million years!"

"W-Well..." Goku looked down the mouth of the Snake Way, paling slightly. "Hey, if one person can do it...two people can do it...right? But...what am I gonna do for food?"

"Ah, that's right, you aren't dead, are you?" the ogre smiled, walking back to the car and pulling out a bentō wrapped in cloth. "This is a gift from Enma Daiō; within the bentō are two fruits from the mystical Enseiji, grown specifically for him. Eat one of them, and you'll be able to stave off hunger for one hundred days, and it'll give you a massive power boost. But please; do not eat them both at the same time."

"Don't eat both at the same time...okay..." Goku mentally tried to store this information away as he took the bentō and slipped it into his _gi_ — the only way he had to store it.

"One last bit of advice? Don't fall off into the clouds; Hell is down there, and if you fall in, you'll never be able to get back out."

"Don't eat both fruits...don't fall into Hell..." Goku kept muttering, as if the information was too much to keep up with. "Alright...I can do this..." Revving himself up, the Saiyan grinned. "I gotta get there in a hurry...so I'll book it in the air!" Launching from the mouth of the snake, Goku flew down Snake Way, yipping and cheering like a child, leaving a stunned ogre in his wake.

* * *

**Wastelands, Earth; Earlier the very same day**

Descending from the sky, Piccolo's cape billowed behind him as he made contact with the soft grass of the wasteland. He'd landed next to a large body of water, carrying the small unconscious body of a child. With a sadistic grin on his face, he held the body of Pan aloft, just over the surface of the water. The child was breathing steadily, and she almost appeared to be sleeping. But the Daimaō was not taken in by adorable childish appearances, and tossed the half-Saiyan into the pond.

Pan hit the mirrored surfaced with a splash, and there was a moment's silence as Piccolo merely watched the ripples spread out. Then, with a gargantuan gasp, the lavender-haired girl emerged from the water, freshly awoken and trying feverishly to fill her empty lungs with air. Her _gi_, so identical to her father's that it made Piccolo irritated, was soaked to the core, and catching a cold was now definitely an option.

"Look who finally woke up," remarked Piccolo snidely as Pan looked around frantically, trying to gauge the situation.

"Y-You!" She gasped, her onyx-eyes widening; even shivering, she glared at Piccolo. "You're that Piccolo guy! But...where's my Papa!?"

"Oh him?" He scoffed with a look of irritation on his face. "He's going to be gone for about a year. Apparently he's going to train with some god called Kaio."

"R-Really?" Pan stuttered out with amazement. But quickly following this, she looked down at the water with a reflection mirroring her downtrodden demeanor. "Papa went to go train? But, why didn't he say goodbye?"

"If you ask me, he's more likely going to hide when the Saiyans show up," Piccolo sneered with a feral smile that made the sorrowful Pan suddenly look up with a start. "Yeah, your mean uncle Raditz had buddies and they're a whole lot meaner. I guess if he knows what's good for him, he'll hide out with that god of his and never come back because of how cowardly he is."

"Hey, stop that-!"

"But what can you expect of Son? He's such a pitiful fighter that he got beat up by his weakling brother. If you ask me, it's a wonder you're as strong as you are with how pathetic he is," He continued to mock, almost with a leering grin on his face.

"STOP!" She shouted, her hands balling up at her side and her eyes glaring onyx holes through Piccolo's own challenging glare.

"Or what? You gonna cry? That makes me want to laugh!" Piccolo bellowed out, laughing with an exaggerative tone in his voice with tears flying out of his eyes.

In the middle of his guffawing, he felt an enormous power suddenly rise up to insane levels. Looking down he'd see a curtain of white wrap around the silhouette of what he assumed was Pan, moving faster than his eyes could read. Before he knew what happened something rip his insides open and tear out through his back. His eyes bulged and blood spewed out of his mouth. A hole tore through his abdomen out the other side straight through his cape, sending him flying back in a titanic wave of pressure. Flying across the landscape he'd tumble, crashing through hills, rocks and trees till he bodily slammed into the side of a mountain.

"_What enormous power_," He thought with a weak look of amazement, blood trickling down the side of a half smiling visage. "_So this is the child of Son's inner power? Huh...she did more damage than I thought. Perhaps I should've thought this through more than I..._"

Spreadeagled out against the splintered surface his body was wedged into, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he passed out from the attack.

What seemed like hours later, he'd suddenly feel himself waking up and his natural regeneration restoring his ruptured organs and shredded tissue. The only thing he didn't expect, however, was the sudden sensation of a campfire nearby. Sitting up with a start, he looked down to see crudely wrapped pieces of his cloak was wrapped around his waist. Examining it, he turned over to see Pan by a the source of light and warmth, cooking what looked like the limb of a dinosaur; one of which was lying dead not far away from them.

"Oh, so you're awake," A familiar voice breached the quiet of the air, making Piccolo flex nervously and rise to a wincing readied posture. His eyes saw the Saiyan, leaning against a boulder, having been formed from his impact into the mountain they were camped out by. He had a piece of roasted dino bone hanging lazily out of his mouth. Looking at him dryly, he almost grumbled at seeing the look of killing intent sent his way, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. "Relax, green man. I don't intend to kill you as you are more than likely aware of."

"Yeah, but I can never be too careful against the likes of you!" He sharply yelled out, holding his waist as the pain of the regeneration hadn't gone away.

"Ha! Good instincts; but irrelevant, because I need your help as much as we need that girl's," Raditz nodded to Pan, whom was contentedly eating away at parts of the dino in her hands. Looking up with a greasy face, she suddenly looked concerned and shuffled herself up from a squat all the way up to Piccolo's place. The movement made the Daimaō nervous, and backpedaled a bit till he saw her touch his bandaged side.

Locking eyes with hers, she bowed apologetically to him, gawking at the girl's sudden genuinely sorrow towards him, "I-I'm sorry I hurt you so badly, M-Mister Piccolo! You were saying awful things and I-I couldn't help myself when I got mad...!"

"Tch, whatever kid," He dismissively shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked back at Raditz. "Here I thought you'd do the same the moment he showed his face to you. What, are you buddies now?"

"He's not _so_ bad," She drawled out, smirking mischievously as she placed hands on her hips and grinned towards the amused uncle. "He said that you were just trying to get me angry to show off my power. When I realized why he was out here, I didn't think he was that bad. Papa may be right; you two may not be that different after all!"

"I'M NOTHING LIKE HIM!" They both seemed to copy each other with angry denial, making the small half breed laugh childishly.

"You're both silly. No wonder you both were beaten by my Papa," Pan dismissed them with a giggle, going back to her food before they could even object. Among the sound of the crackling fire and a feasting child they sat in stewing silence over what had been said. It wouldn't be long before she'd curl up and sleep by the small glow of the fire, without a care in the world with a smile on her face.

Sighing, Raditz finally looked to the Daimaō once more, spitting out the bone as he leaned forward from his seat.

"Listen," He began with a look of seriousness on his face. "This girl may be a half breed but she has an insane amount of potential. I heard the Prince once say that the limits of a Saiyan mingling with that of another compatible race's could yield an incredible warrior. We both know she has no control over this but she has talent for a fighting. If we both put our differences aside, we can make her the ultimate trump card against Vegeta and his cohorts."

"That was my plan from the beginning," Piccolo snorted, unimpressed by what the Saiyan told him. "Before I was knocked unconscious by the brat, my other half informed me that there was a greater impending threat lurking on the horizon. Given what you said, I guess have no choice but to trust Son's insane plan to use his child as our hope of survival. Provided that you don't go off trying to use her to conquer the Earth before I do-"

"Don't worry," Raditz grinned broadly, waving a hand disarmingly. "I want to live, same as you. In fact, while we show her how a true Saiyan fights we can be good sparring partners. Given that you may have been a small bit stronger than Kakarrot, I think you'll be a nice partner for the moment."

"Ha! Don't take this the wrong way, Saiyan, but I don't need help getting stronger-"

"Says the green man who got punched into a mountain?" The Saiyan Elite asked with a raised brow.

"S-She just caught me off guard, that's all!" He answered with a flustered expression.

Chuckling with amusement, Raditz leaned his head to one side, placing both hands on his thick muscular thighs, "Come on. You really couldn't hope to match them with a year's training on your own. If the two of you couldn't stop me without that miracle child, you can't hope to reach a height of power you sorely need. The Earthlings that champion here are hopeless. Without me, you're going to die without putting up a fight at all. It'll be a massacre, through and through.

"So are ya going to just stubbornly reject my hand out of stubborn pride or are you going to realize you got no other better option?" He finished with a dark smile. It had a hint of cheekiness that Piccolo swore resembled Son Goku's if only a great deal twisted by the man's brother.

Rolling his eyes he let out a relenting moan, as he palmed his face, "I'm going to regret this but...sure, whatever. But once this is over," Piccolo lowered his hand from his visage, now glaring menacingly back at the Saiyan with a surprising intensity. "I'll be coming for you before I kill Son Goku!"

"Heh, sure," Raditz smugly grinned, laying back against the stone as he closed his eyes with a bit more confidence in his chances of surviving. Maybe, just maybe he could survive this hopeless scenario.

"Whatever you say, big green."

* * *

A/N:

**Demod20**: _Okay, so, me and my big mouth are partly responsible for this tardy delivery. I wish this got out sooner but one thing led to another that ultimately delayed this update. A thousand apologies! But beyond that, I had a lot of fun writing this if only because I got more than before to experiment with. Between writing up Pan's firsthand reactions to Raditz and Piccolo, I enjoyed just the straightforward dynamic between Goku and his brother. He's not stupid, he knows he'll die if he just hides out on Earth without anyone to save him from Vegeta's wrath. The fact that a whole squad of Saiyans are coming for him just makes the stakes THAT much higher than before. So, with Goku departing from his beloved Bulma to go train at Kaio's, it's a race against time to see if either those on Earth or their hero can get strong enough for the coming invasion. I'm psyched, you're psyched, I can't wait to see how this all unfolds over time!_

**LastationLover5000:** _Okay, so, yeah, this one was later than promised. Granted, that was on Demod20 — I had no original intention on an October update schedule. Regardless, this chapter only got delayed further when Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 came out, and then even further when I got sick. The FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN was the release of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon came out, because I knew my productivity was going to crash. And I'm still sick so that doesn't help. Regardless, it is finished now, so woohoo! I do hope you like what was presented; Demod and I HAVE been brainstorming and we've got some good ideas. To anyone who recognizes the fruit I gave to Goku, it was shown in filler, and I figured, since it was based on something from the Journey to the West, I could include it. Anyway, we'll see you all in the next update, and I hope you really enjoyed this chapter!_


	11. A Saiyan's True Worth

**The Heart of the Adventurers**

**By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, edited by Firegod00**

**Chapter 11 - A Saiyan's True Worth**

* * *

Raditz could feel it.

The surge of power that coursed through his veins, pushing it and raising it to new heights than he ever experienced. In the past, he had tossed energy around, only making the slightest of adjustments to alter its lethal potency. He hadn't unlocked the secrets of _ki_ in all his time spent as a bodyguard to the Prince, realizing that one can completely manipulate one's own energy to the point of raising their battle power for critical strikes or malleable attacks as the emerald skinned fighter once demonstrated.

Using this newfound strength, he kicked off the top of a tower of sediment, letting it collapse from the force of his jump. Accelerating he'd project a petering trail of bright rose shooting him across the sky like a burning comet. His soaring trajectory had him clash violently with an incandescent white aura of similar intensity, creating a thunderous blast of two crashing _ki_ that shattered the nearby natural structures of earth. In this wasteland he'd unleash a barrage of thrashing moves of his arms and legs, making use of his superior size to bar the path of the purple garbed man.

Every contact of his limbs with the other's made him realize just how far the once enemy now tentative ally had become. In just under a few months, he's become a competent warrior, now roughly closer to his level of strength as they both increased at a steady pace every day. Using their time at night to have an intense sparring session, they'd awake the next day to recover while pushing their mutual pupil to higher heights.

The plan was rudimentary in its simple nature. Showcase the best of their talents in a combined training regiment so the daughter of their rival could be utilized at maximum potential. Even if she was a child, she was their best bet of possibly staving off their enemy's worst. However, even while her progress has been good for her age...the gnawing feeling had gotten to the begrudging uncle.

That feeling, in the middle of a fight, allowed a free punch to his face that stunned him. His world spun, vision going red, making his sparring partner get cocky. A blow to his armored chest followed by a catapulting third strike, he'd allow himself to fall straight to the earth. The throbbing sensation cleared by the time he regained his bearings, coordinated his descent and timed a perfect counter.

Unraveling from his waist, his tail whipped out to catch the ground, splintering it with the force that was dispersed. His arms folded over his chest as his eyes opened, watching Piccolo follow him down but had long since lowered his energy; something he had also learned in the few months of training with him, the sensing of ki.

"Hey, I saw you spacing out and decided to wake you up out of your day dream," The former King of Demons regarded with a serious edge to his voice. Crossing his own arms as he observed the Saiyan push himself with his prehensile limb upright he'd wait for him to rise. Once at eye level, he let the wind of the air cool the soreness of their training while keeping on topic. "What's eating you?"

"I was just thinking," The Saiyan warrior began, arms still crossed but his head turning to look at a distant plateau he knew his niece was sleeping on top of. Beyond it, was the glow of the Earth's Full Moon. He knew that if he stared directly in its path, he'd be uncontrollable, so he chose to train near where a good number of visible obstacles could impede his eyesight from staring at it directly. Shaking to regain clarity, he returned his attention to the patient involuntary defender of Earth. "We're making good progress, both us and the child. However, I don't think we'll have enough time to be at a satisfactory level."

Scoffing, Piccolo unraveled his arms and balled his hands into fists, "Don't tell me you plan on giving up!"

"I'm just saying we should come to terms with an impending death while going forward with this!" Raditz argued back, his teeth baring with frustration as his own arms became undone. "If that child isn't even close to being on the level we need, we all dig early graves on this tombstone of a world. It won't matter if we even become on par with Aspara, which is doubtful. If she can't slow down Vegeta or his loyal lackey Nappa, we're all going to die. Slowly and painfully."

"Well, we can only train so much. If we had more time, perhaps, but we're doing the best we can."

"It's those two Earthling females fault!" Raditz swore with a growl, turning about with an exaggerative wave of his arms. "They keep coming by, insisting that they have far greater claim to see to the child's well being. She won't become the warrior we need her to be if she continues to be coddled by them."

"Heh, well, it's not like they don't have a substantial claim to them," Piccolo joked with a smirk.

"I'm surprised, green man, that you haven't tried to stop their meddling," The Saiyan Elite turned to form a scowl towards his partner. "Where did your backbone go?!"

"There are certain battles I'll never fight, Saiyan, even if you're more than willing to bicker back and forth with them," The former Demon King retorted with a snort. "Plus, even if we did try to intimidate them or force them out, I'd rather not be on the receiving end of Son's wrath. Unless you'd like to chance it after he's done training with Kaio, be my guest."

Sneering, the Saiyan had no retort. It wasn't like he could just tell them off, Bulma being as tenacious and forceful as any female of his own race ever could be. Then her sister, Tights, just kept being far to sentimental and caring to the point of making him feel uncomfortable. The pair were just infuriating and often brought the day's momentum of training to an outright crawl.

His niece had potential, but he figured her family was pampering her far too much for her to go all-out; especially when her life was on the line.

His thoughts dwelt on Pan and he realized that he had no particular hatred for the half breed child of Kakarrot. She annoyed him with her clever wit being used mischievously but was equally respectful to him and her other mentor, calling them both "Uncle". It was odd to be treated so familiarly as if he was always a member of the family.

A family he hadn't possessed for years.

The ground shook him free of dwelling on such thoughts. The quakes shuddered the air both him and the big green fighter hovered within. Both became bug-eyed at what could possibly cause such trembling in the landscape. But as they stretched their senses to feel for a _ki_ responsible, both turned to look at a monstrous form, growing out to be a giant simian creature with brown fur and a long furred tail.

He knew without a doubt that Pan had ignored his warnings to avoid looking up at the night sky. She had transformed into an Oozaru!

"Wh-What the Hell is that thing?!" Piccolo shouted with abject shock.

"You mean, you never saw Kakarrot transform?!" Raditz asked, then promptly slapped his face promptly. "Of course not! That idiot had his tail cut off, why would he transform?!"

"It wasn't cut off in my previous life encounter with him, but he never turned into...this!" He retorted, watching Pan's bulk obscure the full moon -much to Raditz's thankfulness- as she roared loudly. The strength of her shout was enough to blow the tops off the many peaks of sediment that cultivated this particular canyon. It made Piccolo wince visibly with more pain than the discomfort that Raditz had.

When she formed a wellspring of crimson outlined white in her mouth, they both separated as a beam funneled between them with the width of a freight train. Passing them by with a scorching heat imprint upon the ground and nearby structures of stone, it collided with a distant mountain range and exploded violently. Nothing was left, much to the ferocious beast that had replaced the Saiyan's niece.

"She's going on a rampage! We have to stop her!" Piccolo howled with panic mingling with outrage.

"There are a few methods with dealing with untrained Saiyans when they transform," Raditz began, his voice raised as he drew closer upon seeing Pan turned to smash her fists and tail upon other large groups of rock formations. "The first is to destroy the moon. It supplies Blutz Waves, the energy our eyes absorb and then transfer to our tails. As long as we bask in its rays, we can continually fight with ten times the strength of our maximum potential."

"I can do that," The Demonic warrior grinned, turning to prep a blast with a bulge in his right arm. Before he could do that, Raditz grabbed his wrist just as it was about to fire. He growled and shook free with indignation. "What?!"

"You idiot!" Raditz shouted with infuriation. "Even if you destroy the moon, we have means of creating our own artificial moons. Both Nappa and Vegeta are capable of this feat! Plus, it would be an invaluable asset to any Saiyans on our side, Kakarrot and Pan included!"

"Then what are our alternatives?!" Piccolo snarled with frustration.

"Grab hold of her tail," He said, pointing at her turned backside as the aforementioned prehensile limb thrashed a another plateau as she stomped and roared loudly with fists beating on her chest. "As long as you put enough pressure it'll weaken her and undo her transformation. Just make sure you don't tear it off. I don't want her to go her life maimed and without an important part of herself missing for the sake of convenience."

"Tsk, that sounds like compassion, Saiyan," Piccolo teased with a wry grin. "What ever would the women think of that?"

"No different than you keeping watch of the child and saving her from every little thing that may harm her!" He retorted, shaking his head with further iration. "Whatever! Let's just get this done already!"

"Hmph," Piccolo huffed as he took powered flight just as Raditz did.

Their calculated assault would not be one of direct confrontation but rather of subterfuge. If what the Saiyan Elite said was true, they were facing a berserk Pan with ten fold the strength of what she displays on a good day. Even barring her inner potential, this was a force of nature they couldn't underestimate.

Fortunately for them, the Saiyaness was in such a rage that she didn't notice their rocketing approach.

Piccolo did his best not to be smashed into a bloody pulp by the flailing limb, easily four to five times his size in length alone. Once he saw it flail upward in a pronounced manner as Pan roared once more, he seized his opportunity. Wrapping his arms around the furred limb he put all of his energy into a concentrated vice grip that tightened fiercely.

Pan's howls became gargled groans of pain and shock. Before his eyes he saw her devolve, becoming less hairy and more akin to her base state. Tighter and tighter he constricted his limbs around the tail, watching her shrink till she was merely three and a half meters in height. Writhing and flailing her arms, she didn't seem to become any smaller than this.

When Raditz appeared, his arms were crackling with rose tint of potent _ki_. Keeping his gaze away from the moon himself he forcefully smashed the forehead of Pan's growling face. A loud seismic boom was let loose and Piccolo had to become scarce from the backward flailing frame of Goku's daughter from crushing him outright. Landing with a loud thud, they both were bore witness to her returning to her humanoid frame.

Deprived of her precious gi and Nyoi-bō.

"Tch, little brat caused us quite a bit of trouble," Piccolo snarled between ragged huffs of labored breath. Turning to look at the Saiyan who stifled any sign of exhaustion on his part, he rolled his eyes and turned to look back at her. "We'll have to make sure to have her sleep in a cave or something that doesn't have the moon in plain view if we don't want a repeat of this incident again."

"Definitely don't mention this to the women," Raditz intoned lowly.

"Don't need to tell me twice," The reincarnated Demon King snorted. Raising up his hand he let out a shout as a golden beam encapsulated the girl. Her apparel was returned to normal, save for the pole. "There, they won't know the difference."

"You can materialize clothing? That's a weird power of yours, big green," The Saiyan commented dryly.

"Don't call me that," He growled, turning on his heels to walk towards the wreckage that was the majority of the canyon. "I'm going to go hunt down Son's heirloom. You keep an eye on her."

"Is that magic stick really worth the effort?"

"Better she has it and not know she lost control, than question us what happened tonight," He spoke lowly, a sense of protection heard in his words. It further confused the Saiyan that he'd go hunt for the red weapon if only because of its limited usefulness. Before he could really argue, he was already out of sight and hunting among the debris.

"Geez kid," Raditz huffed, squatting by his unconscious niece with a look of annoyance. "You made me go on a limb to make sure you aren't handicapped for life. Even if you could grow your tail back, I don't want you ending up like your dad. You're going to be a strong Saiyan warrior, stronger than either of us."

Without realizing it, he was reaching out to stroke her lavender hair. Recoiling, he looked at his hand with utter confusion. Shaking his head, he reached down and grabbed Pan to be placed delicately over his shoulder. With his back towards the now perfectly seen moon, no long obscured by the towers of rocks, he made long strides towards a decently shaded spot for the girl to sleep off her traumatic experience.

"Sleep long and well, kid," Raditz spoke quietly during his walk. "You're going to need it for the training we're going to put you through from this point on."

* * *

**Serpent Road, Afterlife**

How long as Son Goku been running? He wasn't sure. Serpent Road seemed endless, and he was feeling exhaustion — something he hadn't truly felt in ages. "_I know it had to be more than a hundred days ago..._" the Saiyan thought to himself, clutching at his stomach. He was only so sure of this because he'd eaten the first fruit of the Enseiji awhile back, and its effects had long since worn off. He could clearly remember when he had eaten it — like the ogre had said, he'd felt a considerable boost in power, and felt entirely replenished. But now that the effect had ended—

"—I'm _hungry_!" Goku cut across his thoughts, shouting into the emptiness of the Afterlife.

Regardless, hungry or not, Goku pushed on, dashing down Serpent Road with all the persistence of a stubborn mule. His boots hit the scaled walkway, and while he longingly thought of the bentō strapped to his obi, but shook himself from it. The Enseiji fruit reminded the Saiyan a lot of the Senzu from back on Earth — and he might need this last one.

Goku, however, toughed it out, and although he did not know it, one hundred and twenty one days had passed. And he was nearing the end of the road; in merely four months, the Saiyan had crossed Serpent Road, and achieved a record time — even surpassing the record set by Enma himself. Four months of constant running, and a straight twenty-one of them plagued by hunger, Son Goku was nearing the end of his rope. But, he saw the figurative light at the end of the tunnel; the tail end of the Serpent Road.

Gasping for air as he slowed to a halt, Goku looked out over the edge — and he saw nothing. "Eh!?" The Saiyan gasped, dragging out the syllable as long as possible in shock. As he stared out over the finned edge of the Serpent Road, all Goku saw was yellow cloud extending outward as far as the eye could see; an empty space, with no promised planet in sight.

"N-No way!" Goku looked around in a panic, head turning every which way. "It's gotta be he—" He was cut short, however, when his frantic flailing caused him to glimpse a floating green object in the distance. "Oh! Something round...that has to be the planet!" Excitement brimming within him, the Saiyan made a wide leap, cheering, only to find that flying was difficult. Reminding himself that it had been far too long since he'd last eaten, he tried to balance his _ki_ as he flew towards the spheroid.

When he closed in, the Saiyan saw a house, and grinned to himself. "I knew it! This has to be the right pla—!" He felt an intense pull, and he began to scream, dragging out the final word as his body rocketed towards the small planet like a meteor. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!" Crashing into the ground, Goku's entire body rocked with pain, and he felt an intense pressure keeping him onto the grassy surface.

"Ugh..." Goku groaned, trying to force his body up, but the intense force kept him pinned to the ground. "What's...what's with this place? My entire body...i-it feels like lead!"

"You know..." came a slow voice, accompanied by a snicker. "I've heard of people taking a crash course, but I think you take the cake."

There was a tense silence, and Goku forced his head against the force to look for the sound of the voice. His eyes fell upon a short, rotund man with blue skin and two whiskers, looking down on him. His eyes were masked by sunshades, and his clothes were unique; an outfit he couldn't properly describe, black in colour with a character emblazoned on the front, within a circle.

The figure frowned, looking at Goku with disappointment. "Most people would be laughing, especially any aspiring student of comedy!" He sounded almost indignant that Goku's sense of humour didn't mesh with his.

"But...I'm not here...for jokes!" replied Goku, still pinned to the ground by the force overbearing itself on him. "I'm here...to study martial arts...under some Kaiō guy!"

"Oh, a martial arts student?" replied the man, smiling. "Why didn't you say so?! That 'Kaiō guy' is me; I'm the North Kaiō!"

"A-Awesome...!" grunted Goku. "But...why can't I...budge!?" He was beginning to force himself from his prostrate position, clambering to his feet in a crouch. "What's...w_rong_ with this place?"

"Well, to me, it looks like you don't understand the _gravity _of the situation!"

There was another dead silence and Goku merely blinked at North Kaiō's expectant face.

"...It's gravity," replied the Kaiō with a sigh. "Despite its small size, the gravity on my planet is stronger than most average planets, so it seems like you come from a planet with relatively weak gravity."

"W-Well, I come from Earth..."

"Earth?" replied North Kaiō, finally showing some interest. "I suppose you would be cracking under the pressure here—" (another sigh followed as Goku showed no response) "—as the gravity on my planet is ten times that of Earth! I'm actually surprised you can stand, I didn't think Earthlings were made of this kind of tough stuff!"

"I've actually heard that I'm a Saiyan..."

"Oh, a Saiyan?" replied the Kaiō, his eyes presumably widening behind his sunshades. "And...from the looks of it, you're not even dead. A living Saiyan, from Earth, here on my planet...well now, I'm _very_ surprised."

"Well, God an' that Enma guy gave me permission to run the Serpent Road to meet you so I can train!"

"A Saiyan, living no less, on my planet..." North Kaiō seemed stunned. "This isn't a development I get every day — even though I have had far more important visitors before — you're an interesting one. But you don't have a tail; I know some things slip my mind, but I thought a Saiyan were born with them."

This had been the second time someone had brought up Goku's lack of a tail — Raditz had been sure to mention it when he arrived on Earth. Was having a tail that important for a Saiyan? Frowning, Goku decided to elaborate, his conflicted feelings over his heritage notwithstanding. He explained how God had removed his tailed when he was a boy, claiming it was "getting in the way", and he agreed, despite the fact that he had always felt better — stronger even — with his tail.

North Kaiō sighed. "He didn't really have any idea what he was doing, I see; you Saiyans are at your strongest when you have your tails. It helps regulate your _ki_, improves your general abilities, and is the key to a Saiyan's true strength. If you'd like, I could actually restore it for you."

"Restore...my tail?" Goku repeated.

"Of course." replied North Kaiō. "If you want to train here, and you want the best results, a Saiyan needs their tail."

"A Saiyan needs their tail..." repeated Goku. He remembered when he was young, fighting a beast named Giran; when he was bound up by the weird gum that Giran made, he had only been able to break out of it when his tail had spontaneously grown back. It had been a huge rush of power, and he'd always felt odd without his tail since. "Alright, Kaiō! Go on an' restore it!"

"Just 'Kaiō'? No respect," sighed North Kaiō, before motioning for Goku to show his back to him. "A scar and limb are a bit different than wounds, but I should be able to restore it, so just keep still." He extended both of his short arms, palms spread wide. Goku's body was immersed in a soft, golden glow. He looked down at his body with a look of amazement; the fatigue from running Serpent Road was vanishing, though the persistent gravity remained. And then it happened.

The warmth centered around his tail bone, and he could feel a pleasant sensation — a long formed scar healing itself, before becoming flesh, and then, within moments, his tail jutted out, completely formed. It ripped a hole into the _gi_ he wore, and it was waving around behind his body as if it had never left.

"My tail...!" Goku gasped, testing its control to see if he still could move it as he had when he was young, and was excited to see that it felt no different. "You really did it, Kaiō! Thanks!"

"_Lord_ Kaiō, geez," replied the deity, wiping sweat from his brow and sighing. "At least you have the manners to thank me, even if you can't give me something resembling respect. I am a god, you know!"

"Sorry, sorry," replied Goku casually, waving it off.

"I suppose now I should ask, why did you come here to train?" continued the god. "It isn't just every day God and Enma let a living man cross over into the Afterlife, you know?"

"Well, to tell you the truth..." began Goku, and he explained everything that Raditz had told him back at the hospital — about the impending arrival of the Saiyans, and their combat strength. How he needed to train so he could be strong enough to fight them. How even Raditz wasn't strong enough to fight them, and he and Piccolo were having such a difficult time against just one Saiyan.

"Seems you've gotten yourself in quite a situation — seven Saiyans heading your way in a year?" Wiping the sweat from his brow again, North Kaiō tried to assess the situation. "Martial arts master or no, I'm going to have to say seven Saiyans would be a bit much even for myself; they're a violent species, born and raised to fight. They've gone to many dangerous planets, fighting and killing the native races to take these planets in the name of their leader. And now they've got their sights on Earth."

"Too much...for you?" replied Goku in shock. "It might not even be a year now; I spent all that time runnin' on Serpent Road!"

"Don't go jumping to conclusions," cut in North Kaiō. "Just because they're too much for me to handle, doesn't mean they're too much for you. All you need to do is become stronger than me before they arrive. But first, let me just see how long it'll take them to get here." Turning away from Goku, the deity focused all his attention towards the Lower Realms. "Yeah, there they are. And from the look of that pacing, I'd say they'll reach in, oh...214 days."

"An' I hav' ta get stronger than you in 214 days...? Easier said than done..." grunted the Saiyan. "Even with my tail...I can still hardly move an' we've been talking for so long."

"Oh it's more than enough time! 214 days of training here will be like a few thousand years of training down on Earth. But you're right — that's the first step," replied North Kaiō, grinning. "Before I can teach you anything, you need to master this planet's gravity. The Saiyans were born and raised on a planet like this, and if you can't adjust, you won't be any match for them." Without any further delay, he turned and called for "Bubbles!", and they waited in brief silence until there was the sound of hooting.

Goku looked over curiously, and saw the source of the hooting and now screeching sound — a monkey rushing over their way with impressive speed, seemingly uninhibited by the gravity of the planet.

"Um...Lord Kaiō? What's with the monkey?"

"_This_ is Bubbles, my pet monkey," replied North Kaiō. "Your first lession is to catch Bubbles; until you can at least put up with his monkey business, you won't be able to learn anything else."

"Just...catch the monkey?" Goku repeated, and turned towards the chattering simian. "Alright...!" He began to try and move after Bubbles, who happily danced away from him. But the pressure bearing down on his body was making movement near impossible, and what should have been a run was simply a painfully slow march. "Just...you wait...!"

But Bubbles had no intention of waiting, and pranced out of the Saiyan's reach.

"_The fact that he can move even this much on my planet is impressive,_" thought North Kaiō as he watched Goku struggle after Bubbles. "_Is it the effects of being born a Saiyan on their homeworld? Persistence? Or perhaps his simplicity..._" Smiling as he watched, North Kaiō was beginning to get a feeling from Goku he hadn't felt in previous students; he might have found his star pupil.

Coming to a halt, Goku began to pant, and an idea struck him. Eagerly, he began to remove his _gi_, getting rid of the heavily weighted undershirt, followed by his armbands and boots. Free from this burden, approximately 113 kg in total, Goku felt considerably lighter, and the stress of the gravity that weighed on him was less as well. He also placed the bentō next to the weighted garb, keeping the remaining Enseiji out of harm's way.

"_Oh? Already wearing weighted training clothes?_" Kaiō observed with interest.

Grinning, Goku flexed his limbs. "Alright, monkey! I'm comin' to get ya!" Goku made a mad dash for Bubbles, free from his weights, and just when he thought he was closing in, the simian burst into a sprint that placed a huge distance between them. "He's...so fast...what kinda monkey is he?"

"If you're going to give up now, you may as well go on home and wait for the Saiyans yourself," replied Kaiō sternly.

"N-No, I'm not gonna quit right now!" Goku glared towards Bubbles. "I didn't come all th' way out here just to back out!" His breath recovered, and his resolve lit aflame, the Saiyan sprinted towards Bubbles once more, and the chase was on again.

"_Let's see how long it takes him to catch that monkey,_" thought North Kaiō. "_I can feel his heart; it's calm and crystal clear. He's pure, if a little slow. You might be the person I was looking for, Goku! Now go out there and prove me right!_"

With the determination to protect his friends and family, the excitement of new and strong opponents, and even though he didn't know it, the faith of his new teacher behind him, Goku was spurred forward, and his training with North Kaiō had only begun.

* * *

**The Outer Reaches of Space**

Racing through the inky void of space, seven individual pods were making great time. Enveloped in white energy, propelling themselves through space, these were the round-type pods used by the Saiyan infantry under the command of their leader. Leading this charge was the Saiyan prince, Vegeta. Sitting in the cramped pod with his arms folded, the Saiyan appeared to be asleep.

In fact, if one could look into each and every pod, they would see that the Saiyans were all unconscious; their pods were on auto-pilot, and they were currently in a form of a stasis. Their bodies would be nourished and kept in prime condition for the invasion when they arrived. With every warrior on Earth, new and veterans, busy training to combat the Saiyans, the threats themselves were making time faster than anyone wanted.

As the Saiyans loomed ever closer, and the Dragon Team was left to their individual desires, the situation began to look more dire.

Earth's final clock was counting down.

**A/N:**

**Demod20: **_Consider January our month off cause we all needed it. This was fun and I gotta say, I think I may like Raditz w/ Piccolo more than I intended to. They're like brothers, in a way, if only because fate dictated them to work together. Given how well they work together, I can see that being beneficial for the fight that is to come. Speaking of which, I did make sure that both the moon AND Pan's tail wouldn't be destroyed if only because I rather not handicap anyone right off the bat. After all, Raditz WOULD know about the depriving of one's tail weakens a Saiyan incredibly and the loss of the moon couldn't inhibit Vegeta given it's not uncommon knowledge to use their artificial moon tech. Other than that, I was happy with the section my partner wrote; very endearing and comical, as well as informative. I'll thank my editor as always and thank you all for taking the time to read our story. See you all next time!_

**Firegod00: **_Hey guys, Fire here. I know I've been silent the last few updates, but I just wanted to say thanks for reading and I really hope I didn't miss anything. But even more than that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter._

**LastationLover5000: **_Whew boy. It's pretty bad that I haven't felt 100% when writing in awhile. While my compatriots like my contributions, I'm not too keen on what I added. Or rather, I like the content and dislike how I wrote it. But I can be self-loathing later, I'm sure you all are happy to get another chapter. As you all can see, the three of us have some pretty subtle but substantial changes to the series as we go. Far from being the last one, Goku now has his tail back. Toriyama said in an interview the only reason he removed the tail was because he couldn't figure out how the Saiyans put on their clothes, and we've seen from Goku's fight with Giran that he's stronger _with_the tail than without. So, there it is._

_Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and we'll see you soon! Keep your hopes up as the Saiyans approach Earth!_


	12. Bonds and Heritage

**The Heart of the Adventurers**

**By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, edited by Firegod00**

**Chapter 12 - Bonds and Heritage**

* * *

Pan felt the pressure all around her. The half year that has passed training has only increased in intensity as time passed by. Her teachers were what she considered family, even if they never vocally acknowledged it. She had grown fond of their attempts of trying to be distant even though she knew that they looked out for her like real family.

Still didn't make the training any easier, however.

Currently she was in the midst of dodging a flurry of rapid fire from Piccolo's fingers. Miniature bullets of _ki_ were spread in a wide net of range that, on their own, didn't have much accuracy but their numbers made up for that. The flickering hornets of light whizzed and crackled by her scalp, dangerously close to hitting her directly as her little feet carried her quickly out of their reach. Not that any single one of them had the capacity of killing her durably trained frame; the pain however made it a deterrent for taking one too many shots to the everything.

"Come on, kid! You haven't even made any headway towards me! Dodging isn't everything there is to a fight!" Piccolo crowed out madly, echoing out with amused laughter at seeing her frantic movement.

The half Saiyan gritted her teeth with grimacing knowing that the Daimaō was right. If she kept running, she'd eventually trip up or the more experienced fighter hit his target. This meant she had to take initiative, immediately!

In the midst of turning around to flee the energy projectiles, Pan gathered a halo of light around both of her hands. Jerking to a stop, she bent her knees and propelled herself up into the air in a knee tucked back flip over the harrying attacks narrowly missing her minute frame. Unfolding herself near her teacher's forward right, she twisted in the air and launched one illuminating sphere after the other.

Like a pair of grenades, they exploded among the bullets with a pair of overlapping blast waves that made the devil grimace and raise his arms in a reflex. The light dimmed with a curtain of smoke rolling around him.

"Using the smoke as cover, huh?" He growled out, his smile exchanged for a concentrated baring of his fangs. His eyes darted around as his heightened sense of hearing picked up a number of pitter-patters scurrying around him. Even now she didn't charge, deliberately circling around to catch the veteran warrior off guard.

Hearing the feet lift off the ground, he turned to look over his shoulder and saw a rapidly approaching silhouette; one that his arm whipped around and smashed into dust.

"A decoy," The Daimaō grinned at the sight of the crumbling stone thrown at him, twisting his body around to see a shrinking Pan trying to pull herself to a halt. With a hand jutting out to release a blinding wave of golden light, he let out a guffawing shout. "You're finished!"

For a split second, the demi-Saiyan appeared to have been blown away by the well timed counter. But the sight of the tumbling frame fizzling into nothing -like static- did Piccolo's countenance turn to surprise. It was a Zanzōken!

"**Bokushin!**" A sudden cry sounded right between Piccolo's legs as the squatting frame, once hiding in a split second, shot upwards towards the green fighter's exposed jaw. Coalesced with a curtain of light that emitted a pair of luminous horns from either of her balled fists, the rocketing frame smacked dead on into the chin and made her target reel backwards for several meters.

After tumbling head over heels, Piccolo grasped his bleeding chin and felt the punctures along with the swollen bruise. Wrestling a few molars that were busted free from their cavities, he spat them out, along with a wad of blood onto the ground. Looking over with a brief glare at the hovering half blood that looked ruffled but giddy that she landed the hit, he couldn't help but grin despite himself.

"That was a nice hit, kid. Didn't know you were making up your own moves without me knowing," He complimented halfway, suspiciously inquiring under his statement towards the descending girl.

Landing on her feet, she giggled as she rubbed underneath her nose, "But Uncle Piccolo, if I use any moves you taught me, you'd know how to stop them."

"Smart," He replied with a nod. "You're catching on. Only took you a few months to start getting that. Always improvise and never use a technique twice if you can help it. Your enemies will take advantage of any weakness they discern from your first showing, and given how strong these guys are said to be, we'll need every advantage we can get."

"I'll always do my best!" She earnestly beamed with pumping arms.

A slow clap interrupted the pair's musings, bringing their attention to the smirking Saiyan.

"Yes, truly the work of a mischievous minx. That kind of tact would serve you well against the lower levels," He drawled out, his smile becoming a tinge insincere as his clapping stopped. "But do you really think such trickery would work on Nappa? Aspara? No, those would possibly give you an opening for victory but not defeat them outright, if someone like you couldn't be stunned for more than a few seconds."

Pan's face turned from enthusiastic smile to one of a furrowed frown. She came to like her uncle over the passage of time, but days like these when he pushed her buttons when she did her best made it hard to control herself. The buried furnace always got riled anytime her efforts were made out to be in vain, like now or times before.

However, Piccolo was quick to rebuke him with another audible spat, "I'm not saying she's ready, but she's making progress. If she's going to be ready, we have to make her aware of what her faults are as well as what she gets right; adapt to any situation, just like she did now."

"Tch!" Raditz scoffed, dismissing him with a wave of his arm. "Honestly, Piccolo, I think you butter her up too much. If she goes in with a big head, she'll get popped, and then where will we be? Worse than square one, I can tell you that."

"I'm aware of the stakes," Piccolo retorted, his teeth retracting as he favored a far more calmer stoic visage as his wounds healed over the course of the time they talked. "But mockery can only stir the coals so much. Or do you want to poke the bear?"

Stiffening slightly, Raditz looked over at the glaring little Saiyan and flinched at the look in her eyes. Unbeknownst to the spiky, lavender haired girl her onyx eyes looked almost glazed with a ferocity that was only witnessed by the pair on rare occasions. The hidden well of power that was called upon in what could be amounted to fits of rage was far more frightening than an uncontrolled Oozaru transformation.

Something neither wanted a repeat unless they could help it.

Sighing, Raditz raised his arms up to console Pan and formed a wry smile, "Alright, I was a bit...harsh, my fiery niece. You're coming along great! I'm just apparently a bit too impatient for _some _people's liking."

Though Piccolo's eyes rolled, knowing where his words were aimed at. But the effect was good enough that Pan's anger seemed to dissipate immediately. Her broad grin stretched across her face and her eyes glimmered with a blush of pride forming on her cheeks.

"Thanks, Uncle Raditz!" She beamed out, much to the older Saiyan's annoyance.

Clearing his throat, he decided to use his presence for something more productive than spectating. Looking over at Piccolo, he grinned darkly and then turned to stare challengingly at his relative. Squatting in front of her, he inquired with a raised brow, "Say, we've been taking turns training you, but I have an idea. How about we both spar against you at once? Twice the efficiency of our regimen, double the results!"

While the Daimaō's interest piqued, he saw that Pan scrunched her face up and considered it thoroughly. Due to the trading of hands during the days and nights where eventually both went to train on their own and against each other, the results were adamantly consistent. It was just not a high enough raise in marginal strength, that much was sure.

Thankfully for Raditz -and by extension, Piccolo as well- Pan seemed up for the challenge.

"Okay, let's do it!" Pan looked up with a challenging grin, a mirror of her parents with a gleam of fierce determination glowing in her eyes. Palming a clenched fist, she bowed to them both before settling into a simple crouched stance. Both arms cocked at an angle with clawed hands aiming fingertips and palms towards each other with legs spread out. With a blue fire born in her pupils, she chirped with eagerness. "Ready when you are!"

A second later, a log for a foot came barreling towards face.

Eyes bulged wide as she barely caught the foot, a clap of force rocking her frame, making her tail spasm from the sheer impact. During her exercises with her Saiyan relative, she always felt like he used only a fraction of his strength when training her. Now, it felt like a completely different force than she was used to.

The sensation took her so off guard that she didn't have time to acknowledge Piccolo's own shoe covered toes crashing into her side. Bowing outward, her face struck an expression of pain and realization merging together just as she was catapulted across the wasteland. Tumbling shoulder over shoulder she grappled the rocky ground with her prehensile limb, straightening upwards with elbows dug into her sides and face forming a strained grimace on her face.

"What's the matter? Is this level too much for you?" Piccolo inquired with bared fangs, threatening; like his leaning clawed stance.

"We don't have the luxury to take it easy any longer!" Raditz announced with a stoic glare affixed towards his niece. With arms at his sides, he launched himself headfirst like a missile towards her with Piccolo darting in a number of angles like a wraith, being only a pace behind the prior. Once they reached her, she only had one option.

Move.

Ducking beneath by a hair's breadth to avoid the Saiyan's sudden swiping elbows, Piccolo's arm tried to cut her escape short by grabbing her arm. Pulling her into a punch, she avoided it by biting hard onto his wrist. Recoiling back at blood being shed, she forward flipped and launched an array of kicks at his face to which only met empty air. Rearing back, his mouth opened and regurgitated a kikōha from his mouth making her twirl sideways away.

This was a prime opportunity for Raditz to land a painful lancing palm thrust into her backside. Drawing out a winded gasp from the child, she couldn't react in time for another punishing blow to her face by an instantly appearing Piccolo. Her world spun as her stomach was bashed in, punting her high up into the air by an unknown attacker, arms immediately pulled around her affected area of injury.

"Don't simply react!" Raditz shouted loudly, his right arm wrapped in a curtain of scarlet bio-energy. Thrusting it up at her, a bolt of lightning streaked towards her with the intent of producing intense pain upon the child if she failed to act. "Fight as if your life depends on it!"

"MA-"

Inches away did Pan's body unfurl, glowing in a luminous glow of gold as one arm braced by the other shoved into the offensive _ki_ with her own.

Then she shrieked like a banshee.

"-SENKŌ-HAAAAAAAAAAA!"

An unleashed torrent of gold light shot downward, briefly colliding into Raditz's attack. Sparks flew to and fro from the contact, hissing and snapping. Overcome like a tidal wave to a tree, the blast wave rushed onward to hit both warriors standing on the ground below.

Without even looking at each other, the pair reached one hand up to brace against the _ki_ threatening to burn away everything beneath their soles. The ground quaked, the wind blistered but they held firm. A concentrated shout and both tore the plasma in half, sending it scattered in either direction, leaving a burning trail before it exploded fantastically in the distance.

But Pan didn't use it as a simple counter. No, instead she was already upon Raditz, the ferocity renewed in her eyes. Despite the contrast of her beaten frame she managed to launch a strong punch into his left jaw, making the Saiyan jerk back albeit only a small distance. Twisting around to whip her tail into his already reared head, he was sent up into the air, enabling her to turn her attention to Piccolo.

Already forming a kikōha in her left hand, she shoved it towards his retaliating energy bullet from an erect finger. The blasts exploded in midair, creating the smokescreen she needed for cover. Despite the setback, the Daimaō simply clapped his hands hard in a forward direction, the shockwave blowing away the dust and debris swirling around him.

Even amidst the harsh condition, she was already on the ground, hands cupped by her sides in an all too familiar stance.

"Ka! Me!" She shouted out the syllables deliberately, the _ki_ forming sprayed rays in a circling fashion and formed an overcast of zealous blue over the environment.

"You're not in the air this time, kid!" Piccolo retorted, forming a Masenkō in one hand without even needing to brace it. "Plus, we're facing two different directions. You can't take us both out with that."

"HA! ME!" With increased vigor, Pan's teeth gnashed and her glare intensified, her body awash in a white light with blue accents that was almost blinding to any nearby observers.

"No niece of mine is going to use such a worthless technique!" Raditz baited, his own hands both alight in a rose color. Grinning darkly, he goaded her into attacking him. "Go on, I'll squash that little beam of yours with two of mine!"

Just as both warriors were expecting the obvious, a sudden thuum was felt. Pan's body ignited in a towering inferno of ethereal flames, the neon sphere swelled to a magnanimous proportion till it was even larger than herself. Before their very eyes, the half blooded Saiyan had generated consciously a power greater than she had before.

In turn, she had formed the _Super Kamehameha_.

"HAAAAAAAAA!" She screamed, her hands thrusting out in both directions, effectively splitting her technique in half while the halo of blue outlined white continuously burned around her. Like a pair of columns the ki racing headlong towards them was far greater than they anticipated, and forced them both into a corner.

With Raditz forcing himself into a frenzied blaze of cherry red, he shoved himself bodily into the technique with his twin beams, using their discharge as a offensive and defensive maneuver. Grounding his teeth, he felt the heat wash over him, enough to make him sweat profusely. Just as burns began to blister his more exposed body parts, he completely eviscerated the technique into a shower of exploding sparks.

Heaving heavily, his armor was scorched and charred away in certain areas but still very much intact. Turning to look over, he saw that Piccolo's extended limb was intact but burned more extensively along the palm and outstretched fingers. He grimaced in pain and the effort, looking equally relieved that he didn't suffer as much damage as he could have.

Looking over with astonishment, he witnessed Pan looking exhausted, falling back on his haunches and giggling a little to herself.

"Man. I didn't know I could form such a big Kamehameha. Haha! Papa would be so proud of me!" She declared out loud with a beaming smile.

"_That technique could've killed us if we took it at full power. Her splitting it in half just barely allowed us to take it head-on_," The full blooded Saiyan gawked as those thoughts circled the forefront of his mind. Even as Pan leaned back and snickered to herself, he was almost aghast at how far this little neice of hers had come. A part of him was both relieved that they had a chance and another was somehow proud of this girl.

He couldn't place why, or how it happened, he just...was.

"Go ahead and take five. Once you rested up, we'll continue where we left off," Piccolo took charge, doing his best to dust himself off and straighten his posture. In a flicker of light, he even reformed his discarded turban and cape. Turning to look over at the Saiyan, he gave him a nod and the Saiyan could sense right away why he acted this way.

_The women were here._

Groaning with annoyance, it didn't take long for him to see the arriving Earthling vessel arriving in their general vicinity. The yellow hover-vehicle was curiously enough, followed by the Galactic Patrolman's flying saucer, setting not far away from theirs. Once they both landed, Tights and Bulma exited their vehicle while Jaco slid off the surface of his and landed in a 'cool' pose.

"Given by the horizon lighting up, I see you guys are busy as always," Bulma commented dryly. The look on her face doubly reinforced how deadpan she was to see the disheveled landscape, the fires set to some areas and large craters formed not far from their general location. Looking over at Pan's happy yet clearly injured frame, she angrily twitched at them.

"Woman-!"

"I'm glad to see you're all in good health!" Tights quickly interrupted Raditz, knowing that if it was dragged out, a repeat of past verbal arguments was going to have them standing around and waiting them out. In her hands she held what looked like a big picnic basket, raising it up towards the stunned Saiyan with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I bring offerings to our soon-to-be-heroes who will save us all!~"

"That's presumptuous of you," Piccolo huffed with an eye roll. "We haven't even finished half a year's training yet and you think we're going to pull this off."

"Well of course," She waved her basket, making Raditz's hungry eyes track it as she idly moved it to and fro in front of him. "After all, you guys are crazy strong and are probably as strong if not stronger than Goku. Even Pan could probably beat these Saiyans singlehandedly."

"That kind of optimism could land you in an early grave."

"I prefer it to be the force of my undying will!"

"...right," Piccolo sighed, relenting at the blonde woman's chipper attitude. Massaging the bridge of his nose, her mere proximity was enough to give him a headache.

"I believe _Son _will," Bulma intoned with a sigh, withdrawing a capsule and clicking it to let it unpack in a poof of smoke to reveal a first aid kit. Looking to the Daimaō, she saw him just stare at her incredulously which made her snort. Handing some salve and bandages to her sister, she took the kit and walked over to console her daughter. "Hey sweetie. How's my big girl doing?"

"I'm ok, mama!" Pan insisted, wincing at the touch of some iodine that was applied to a bleeding injury.

"Uh-huh, I can see that," She replied with a hint of doubt. "Then again, if you have the energy to smile like that I can imagine you are okay by your father's standards."

"Have you heard from papa yet?"

"No, unfortunately not. Though I'm sure he's busy training just as hard as the others are," The mother of one reassured her daughter with a comforting smile, kindling the cheery spark she so cherished in her girl's eyes.

"I've gotten so strong! I bet papa would be so happy!" The lavender haired girl flexed her arms in proud declaration.

"Yes," She smiled, wrapping a bandage around one of her injuries as she looked off a bit distantly. "Yes I know he is."

"Woman, I don't need you meddling-"

"Oh hush. You big tough guys are all the same. You're even more sensitive than even Jaco," Tights teased as she continued to apply salve while keeping the basket full of food out of his snatching reach. Seeing him growl just made her laugh, and he fidgeted at not taking anything or moving away by force. If it wasn't for his brother and his niece, he wouldn't be in this awkward situation on a near daily record.

Looking over at the aforementioned space cop, he noticed him seeming to be holding out what looked like a device similar to, but not precisely, his Scouter towards him. This made him scowl at being examined, the being already unsightly enough. He didn't desire him prodding his person for his own ulterior motives.

"What the Hell are you here for anyways?" He snarled at him, making the Galactic Patrolman shrink before wave a fist indignantly.

"I'm not here of my own volition! If it wasn't for these two bullies, I wouldn't be stuck here, waiting for an impending doom!" Jaco reacted in a frantic manner.

"That's not what I asked, bug-man," Raditz snorted.

"If you _must _know, I'm measuring your energy levels," He explained, pointing at the hand-held version of the Scouter that was merged with technology he possessed. "Given what Bulma has shared designs with me so I could help her decipher the languages you and the squad come from, I was granted with this mercenary tech. A number of companies outfit warriors with this for long-range communication, translation and to measure the approximate metric amount of a being's battle power."

"Out of curiosity, just how much as the other Earthlings' risen?" He inquired, visibly grimacing but doing his best to ignore Tights' placing salve and bandages over his burned skin.

"From their original counts, they've had amazing progress. While I don't know the metric scale to compare to your Saiyan friends, it could help accumulate in a strength of numbers matter. Yours seems to have also raised quite high, with your young friend being the most amazing for a Saiyan her age," He commented.

"Comforting to know, but I know for a fact what kind of numbers we're dealing with," Raditz somberly explained, his eyes exchanging with Piccolo's with a reserved expression. "But we're going to do what we can to beat fate. I won't end up like my parents or my race."

"My-My, what a heroic thing to say," Tights teased with her eyes fluttering and her shoulder brushing against his breastplate. "If you follow through with that, I might just give you a victory kiss."

"Flattering," Raditz deadpanned, reaching out with an almost demanding stare. "Food. Now!"

"Though, that attitude can always be polished a little," She snickered, grinning lopsidedly as she unpacked the basket and handed food all around. Even offering Piccolo, who adamantly shook his head, confusing the blonde haired woman. "Oh? You don't like?"

"I don't need to eat," He answered bluntly. "If you have some water, though, I won't say no to that."

"Haha, just like a plant. Does sunshine help your complexion too?"

"As a matter fact it-...oh shut up!" Piccolo snarled afterwards, making everybody laugh lightheartedly despite his fearsome, fang spread glare. Huffing exasperatedly, he took a water bottle and began to drink from it, casually looking over at Pan who munched happily on some sandwiches handed to her. He wondered just how deep her power went and wondered why somebody like her warmed up to him so easily, even after displaying his habitually nasty actions and talk all the same.

Then she looked over at Jaco, who was drinking from a carton of milk, and smiled at him, "Ah, you're Taco, right?"

Sputtering out the milk with exasperation, much to Tights and Bulma's amusement, he turned to angrily shout at her, "My name is Jaco, the Super Elite Patrolman! Or have I never introduced myself properly?!"

"No, you actually attempted to shoot her," Bulma narrowed her eyes dangerously while glancing at him from the side.

"C-Can we just let that go?"

"Only if you allow her to call you, Taco," She replied with a teasing smile.

"Agh! You're a cruel woman. It's a wonder you ever got married-"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"OH LOOK! WHAT'S THAT?!" Jaco pointed at something behind Bulma, and made a mad dash towards his flying saucer. Unfortunately he was tackled from behind and was dragged back, placed in several painful holds that bent him in unnatural angles. It was all amusing, even to Raditz and Piccolo.

"A toast," Tights raised a juice box, while Pan raised a cup of lemonade, Piccolo unwittingly his bottle of water and Raditz a double BLT he was in the middle of eating. "To the heroes of Earth and our survival."

"Hmph," Raditz huffed as he finished his sandwich. While everyone drank to it he chewed thoughtfully as her words echoed in his head.

Hero. He never considered that as a synonym for the Saiyan race. They were all glorified thugs, killers for hire and perhaps the easiest bunch to amuse when it came to maiming and murdering. It wasn't until the age they lived in that royalty, government and a form of bureaucracy was formed. The tenderness of his mother and a honorable pathos his father lived always disconcerted him, making him wonder why he had such an odd pair for parents.

Even he never quite fit in. Fights were never an all-in thing like the rest of the Saiyans such as the Prince, his caretaker Nappa and the others above his station. Even as an adult he only put forth the effort so he wouldn't be slated as expendable. But now, he had a drive and purpose, for the first time in his life. Even people depended on him, a realization that dawned on him.

Was he a hero? No, he was just using them as a means to an end. Surviving this was the best outcome, and nothing less than that was seen as a victory. Could there be something worth in valuing them as more than acquaintances?

Shaking his head, he returned to his feast, knowing it'd be a matter of time till their newer and harsher training regimen went into full motion.

He hoped that Tights' optimism had a grain of truth in it; otherwise this year of preparation was for naught.

* * *

**North Kaiō's Planet - Earlier**

"I almost had 'im that time!" groaned Goku, sliding into the grass as Bubbles rushed away to the other side of the small planetoid. He was wearing his weighted training _gi_ again, and was feeling the effects. He'd taken them off earlier, and had come so close to catching that monkey without them, but North Kaiō had urged him to wear them during the chase. It was supposed to be training after all, and if he could run on this planet with 113 kg of extra weight, he would be far lighter on Earth.

The bentō that contained the Enseiji fruit rested near the base of North Kaiō's house, and he'd considered eating the fruit to give him an advantage against Bubbles, but his better nature told him it wouldn't benefit his training at all. "_I'll catch that monkey if it's th' last thing I do!_" thought the Saiyan, pulling himself up from the ground and dusting off. He flexed his fingers, grinning. "You just hold on, Bubbles! I'm comin' to get ya!" His tail twitched behind him eagerly, and it was hard to say he wasn't feeling the benefits of having this old appendage back. His body finally felt whole again.

"Yargh!" He let out a cry, and rushed after Bubbles. The monkey dashed across the planet, followed by the Saiyan, the latter's arms outstretched. Goku's pacing was beginning to adjust, and he was no longer lagging as far behind Bubbles. It had only been twenty days since he'd begun this little run around with the simian, and Goku was showing progress at a rate that North Kaiō had never seen before.

"_Now...stay still you little bugger..._" Goku thought, though he knew this was futile hope. The monkey took a sharp left turn, and Goku sprinted right past it. Rather than pursue, however, an idea struck Goku, and he made his way towards the tree that grew in North Kaiō's yard. He clung to a branch, and kept his eyesight primed on the planet's surface.

"_Oh? What's he doing?_" North Kaiō looked at the tree with interest.

Bubbles made his round across the planet, and was approaching the tree to pass it up at breakneck speed. When the monkey made it under the timber, Goku launched himself forward from the branch. With a long reach, the Saiyan grabbed the monkey by the waist, using his own tail to keep a grip on the tree's branch and avoid a painful landing with the ground.

"H-He did it!" The deity gasped, eyes wide behind his sunglasses. "With 194 days left, he managed to catch that blasted Bubbles!"

"Whew!" Goku slid out of the tree, sitting down on the grass as he let Bubbles run off. "I can't believe I did it...it felt like I've been going at this for years!"

"Those are the effects of training on my planet," replied the Kaiō, grinning. "I'm surprised you caught Bubbles in only twenty days, that's remarkable progress Goku! You've earned a bit of a break; you're not working with a dead body, and training too hard will simply be detrimental rather than helpful."

"Yeah...good point," replied the Saiyan, leaning back on the grass and letting the wind blow across his body. His tail twitched at his side, and he was still getting used to being able to feel with the extra appendage — it had simply been too many years without his tail. The tail. The mark of the Saiyan race.

_"Your tail! Where is it!? What happened!?"_  
_"My tail? I got it cut by God a long time ago."_  
_"Y-You idiot! Do you realize what you've done!? You're walking around maimed, bereft or your precious full power!"_

That was Raditz's reaction when he'd told his brother that he'd lost his tail. Sure, when he was a kid, he'd been very attached to it — it was a part of his body, after all — but was a tail just that important to a full-blood Saiyan? He knew so little about his race. Raditz had given him a limited explanation about their parents, but kept quiet about anything in regards to the Saiyans in general. Granted, they had been pressed for time.

Goku inclined his head towards North Kaiō, feeling the cool grass on his face. "Kaiō, what do you know about the Saiyans? I only jus' found out that I _am_ a Saiyan, so I don't really know all that much."

"What do I know about the Saiyans?" mused the deity. "Well, if you're asking for personal details on your own family, I don't know all that much..."

"No, no, my brother can fill me in on those details," replied Goku. "I just wanna know about them in general. I _am_ one but I know so little."

"Well..you probably won't care for the details, but the Saiyans were hardly a species that were well liked within the Northern Galaxies," shrugged North Kaiō. "But where to start? The Saiyans were originally from a planet called 'Sadal'. However, long ago — I can't even remember when, I was focusing on another section of the Northern Galaxies at the time — the Saiyans destroyed their planet due to infighting. You are a very violent species, but I'm sure you've noticed this."

Goku couldn't deny this much. He always enjoyed the thrill of a good fight, and felt the most alive when he was fighting a strong opponent. Was that a Saiyan urge?

"They managed to steal a ship from a space-faring race who had visited their planet and met a pretty gruesome end. With their new technology, they set out into the vast reaches of space, leaving behind an exploding planet and made their way towards a new planet. It was called 'Plant' at the time, and the Saiyans inhabited it for a few centuries before it was eventually overtaken by them. They renamed the planet Vegeta, slaughtering the native inhabitants of the planet, and the Saiyan monarchy began."

"They...slaughtered everyone!?" Goku gasped, horrified.

"Men, women, children, the Saiyans didn't leave anyone alive," replied Kaiō. "As much as I regret it, I was...privy to this particular part, however, I wasn't able to stop it. We Kaiō are not allowed to interfere with humans; all I could do was watch it. Training people like you who come to me is the closest I can come to physically impacting anything that goes on down there."

"Were all of the Saiyans...monsters?" Goku inquired. His brother had spoken of their parents in positive terms, even if he wasn't truly proud of them.

"Every species has its black sheep," answered Kaiō airily. "I heard tell a few centuries back, when the Saiyans had already settled onto planet Plant, of a pure-hearted Saiyan who tried to rise up against the rest of his race. He took on the entire Saiyan army with himself and five comrades, but he wasn't able to eradicate evil in the Saiyan race before he was killed. It's not a tale that the Saiyans typically pass down.

Regardless, Saiyans were a species that have _evolved_ to fight," continued North Kaiō. "They become stronger after every brush with death, and are naturally attuned to their _ki_. A tyrant by the name of Freeza would go on to find the Saiyans, and became highly interested in utilizing them as part of the the Galactic Freeza Army. So the species was conscripted as soldiers. Twenty-one years ago, however, the planet was struck by a large meteor, and entirely destroyed. Very few Saiyans survived. The majority of those who did were scattered on other planets at the time, like you. And most of them have returned to their service in the the Galactic Freeza Army, though I believe they are stragglers who have simply neglected to return."

Goku finished listening to the end of the entire explanation with a bitter look on his face. These were details he wasn't too fond of. Based on his first impression from Raditz, and everything his brother had said, he didn't have much respect for his Saiyan heritage after all. It wasn't something to be proud of. But, at the same time, he couldn't just escape that anymore. His Saiyan tail twitched behind him, reminding him of what he was.

"So who is this 'Freeza' guy?" inquired Goku deciding to take the line of query to the name North Kaiō had dropped that he didn't recognize.

The moment the name was uttered, North Kaiō's face darkened. "He's not someone to concern yourself with, Goku. Forget Freeza; I only mentioned him because he had a role in Saiyan history. You don't want to meet him!"

"Whaaaaaaaat?" Goku replied, indignant. "But when you put it that way, I've _got_ to know!"

"No, Goku!" was the Kaiō's answer. "I'm not backing down on this." Ignoring Goku's disappointed groans, he continued. "Now that you can move around easily even with this planet's gravity, it's time to take you to the next step of your training — the Kaiōken."

* * *

That had been a few months ago when he began. Goku had confidence in his skills, but North Kaiō was no slouch as a teacher. Before Goku could even learn the 'Kaiōken', his new teacher had insisted he train his body first. The past few months had been nothing but physical drills, and Goku's body was building up strength and durability. But now was a change of pace.

A sparring match with the North Kaiō himself.

"Your form is sloppy!" the deity shouted. Goku was pushed back with immense force, the stout god sending Goku back with a powerful palm thrust. The Saiyan flipped back onto his feet, skidding along the grass, North Kaiō standing up to his full, admittedly nonintimidating height. His hands were placed in front him, palms hanging flat. It was a relaxed stance, but it told Goku everything he needed to know — there was no opening here he could exploit.

Goku rushed forward again; if there weren't any openings, he'd have to create one! Pressing into the ground with his left palm, the Saiyan swung his right leg towards the deity with a powerful kick from the side. His boot soared through the air, aimed at North Kaiō's face.

North Kaiō's hand raised instinctively to block the blow, Goku's leg collided with the flat of his blue palm. Twisting his hand, he grabbed Goku's leg and pulled the Saiyan within striking range. With a powerful blow, North Kaiō's palm struck Goku in the chest, and the Saiyan was winded, futilely gasping for air. Each strike from North Kaiō was more powerful than anything he'd experienced before; stronger than Piccolo, stronger than Raditz. That _this_ kind of power existed to oversee the universe boggled his mind.

"_An' th' Saiyans comin' our way are even stronger than him!_" Goku thought with awe. The Universe was truly full of strong opponents, and he couldn't help but be amazed, even as he tried to fill his lungs with oxygen. Clutching his chest as he bent down on one knee, his breath grew from raspy to normalizing itself.

"You won't last a second in Kaiōken using _that_ body," said North Kaiō. "You're too uptight, and too anxious when you make your moves. Not only does your body need to be trained to handle the stress, but _you_ need to be able to relax, so you can minimize the stress. Kaiōken is not a move for the faint of heart; even I've never been able to master it. I'm placing all my expectations on you, Goku."

"Well...I'll try an' live up to 'em," replied the Saiyan, a grin on his face as he drew himself into a standing position.

"Then let me show you just a fraction of what I'm hoping for," said North Kaiō. He readopted his stance, and Goku put his guard up. It happened in an instant. North Kaiō's _ki_ spiked tremendously, there was a flash of red, and Goku felt his body hurtling across the planet at breakneck speeds. Pain rocked through his body, centered directly in his torso; he couldn't tell how many times he had been hit. In fact, until his body recognized where every ounce of pain was localized, he didn't even know something _had_ hit him.

His body splaying out, Goku gripped the ground as he circled the planet for a second time, coming to a complete and total halt. He coughed up spittle and blood, clutching his body where North Kaiō had hit him.

"_That_ is the Kaiōken," said North Kaiō, walking over to Goku and looking down at his hunched figure. "A fighting technique I've developed, multiplying the user's _ki_ for the length of a heartbeat, and drastically boosting all of your abilities."

"How...many times...did you hit me?"

"Oh...around thirty or so," shrugged North Kaiō. "To be perfectly honest, even I haven't mastered the Kaiōken. But I believe _you_ can, Goku."

Goku was stunned. North Kaiō claimed to not have mastered the technique...but he struck him that many times with such speed the blows weren't even visible. "That's...that's amazin'! I never knew that kinda technique existed!"

North Kaiō snickered. "Of course not; I'm a martial arts master, after all. The Kaiōken is my own original creation! Now, let's redouble our efforts...after a nice spot of tea."

"...What!?" Goku groaned in exasperation. He'd been feeling all excited after seeing what North Kaiō could do with the Kaiōken, but in that one moment, the deity killed any excitement he'd had. Regardless, as he followed the Kaiō into his house, tailed by Bubbles, Goku grinned. The thought of a technique like that excited him immensely. Training was really going to get interesting.

* * *

**In The Outer Reaches of Space**

The multiple round-type spaceships were making headway towards Earth. Tearing through the North Galaxies, they were looming ever closer. Earth was located on the outskirts of the Milky Way, but distance didn't matter to the spacecraft of the Galactic Freeza Army. As the days ticked down, the Saiyans day of arrival grew nearer. And, even while asleep, once in particular grew fidgety.

Not the prince.

The beautiful Saiyan woman in stasis, laying against the seat of her pod.

Aspara was itching to fight.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Demod20**: _I had a far more enjoyable time writing this scene than I originally had planned. Instead of a simple exchange, I go the extra mile and make Pan the little battle prodigy; a great departure from her Canon counterpart I'm sure. Apart from the cute little badass getting some good hits in on her unlikely teachers, I've found myself enjoying Piccolo and Raditz's brother-like dynamic going on. It wasn't originally part of my plan, but it just happened and works fairly well. My section with Tights and Bulma, even Jaco, was also pretty enjoyable as well. With some hearty development for all, I'm eager to work on the next chapter for the upcoming, inevitable, arrival of the Saiyans!_

**LastationLover5000:** _In the end, I'm not even sure who had the most fun with this chapter, Demod or myself. I loved his section, but I rather enjoyed writing my own. Goku never asked North Kaiō anything about his race,_ _discounting that anime-only segment where North Kaiō proved he knew about as much as a dated textbook that hasn't been updated with the latest scientific discoveries. So I loved having the deity regale Goku with as much as he knew about the Saiyans, especially as a way to incorporate some of the latest elements from Super. Even more fun, perhaps, were his training sessions. The clever use of his new tail, and his sparring match with the North Kaiō. Overall, it was a pretty solid chapter: good work on my contemporary's part, and as always, Firegod00 did his best to edit our little mess!_

_We'll see you guys soon, in the next chapter!_


	13. S-T-A-R-F-A-L-L

**Dragon Ball — The Heart of Adventurers**

**By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, edited by Firegod00**

**Chapter 13 — S-T-A-R-F-A-L-L**

* * *

**The Day of the Saiyans Arrival  
**  
_Arrival on Earth within approx. three minutes (Planet Freeza Time__quadrant__)._

_Arrival on Earth within approx. three minutes (Planet Freeza Time__quadrant__)._

_Arrival on Earth within approx. three minutes (Planet Freeza Timequadrant)._

This line was repeated several times amidst the five spacecraft that closed in on planet Earth. Within only a short time, the five invaders would close in on their blue target, and the suspended animation systems within their pods was beginning to deactivate — slowly, their vital readings returned to normal, and the seven Saiyans began to awaken.

It took only a short while for the Saiyans themselves to fully emerge from stasis, and by this point, their ships has broken the atmosphere. The spheres were immersed within auras, preventing them from catching fire upon entry, and as soon as they'd made their way towards Earth, the seven ships split off in four different directions; as was protocol, they were automatically headed towards the locations with the largest amount of life-readings. Two ships headed towards the Eastern Capital, Two for the Northern Capital, Two for the Southern Capital, and one sole ship raced towards the Western Capital.

One-by-one, the alien spacecraft crashed into the cities. The pavement exploded on impact, creating gigantic craters large enough to fit each of the pods. These pods opened, and in each Capital, a Saiyan stepped out of their spacecraft.

In the Eastern Capital, the first duo stepped out. They contrasted each other nicely, with one of them being a fairly short man, lean-built, with a shock of black hair that stood upright, and a widow's peak. He wore similar battle armor to Raditz, with a blue leotard, white chestpiece with yellow shoulder pauldrons, and similar pauldrons extending as crotchguards, as well as white boots and gloves. He wore a red Scouter, and his tail wrapped around his waist like a furred belt.

The other was a tall man, massively-built, without a shred of hair on his head, but a thin mustache. He wore no leotard, but his chestpiece was dark navy with similar yellow pauldrons and crotchguards. His boots matched his armor, and he wore no gloves, but rather armbands made of the same durable material. His Scouter was a dark blue, and like his comrade, his tail had been wrapped around his waist.

Nappa and Vegeta had landed.

At the Northern Capital, the second pair of Saiyans emerged from their pods. The first of the two was as tall as Nappa, but couldn't be more his opposite in terms of physical build. While possessing well-defined musculature, he was lanky, and his face had prominent cheekbones. His eyes were stern and narrow, but his expression gave off an air of boredom. His spiked hair framed his head with two bangs, but otherwise fell to his neck. On his ear was a single hoop-earring, and was bone plated with gold. He wore the same combat armor that the other Saiyans wore, though his breastplate was black, with white shoulder pauldrons. He lacked the crotchguards, but did wear the same leotard as Vegeta, merely black in colour. His gloves and boots were white, and his Scouter was red.

His compatriot was another slim Saiyan, with a rather blank expression on his face. It was accented by a short chin, but rounded cheekbones, and his eyes were otherwise lacking in distinctiveness. His hair was unique among the group, as he had shaved it on the sides to create a spiked-ponytail, tied by a red band, and reached the small of his back. His armor top consisted of only the grey breastplate, with green bands instead of pauldrons, and navy blue leggings, of which his boots matched, though they had a similar green armor at the tip. He possessed, however, intricate war paint, extending from the palms of his hands, up his neck, and across his cheeks and forehead; any Saiyan still alive would recognize these markings as distinct from Saiyan lore.

"Shall we, Bocho?" said the first Saiyan.

"We shall indeed, Gula," replied the second in a monotone.

At the Southern Capital, the final pair of Saiyans vacated their pods. Of the first was a wiry man with a lean build, possessed of an angular face and a chin that could cut diamond. His nose was aquiline, but befit his large eyes and beady pupils. He was the most menacing out of the seven, adorning his hair with a collection of various bones, styling it into dreadlocks-style braids. Unlike his comrades, he wore no armor, only a steel-mesh which revealed a mass of scars on his body, and his accessories consisted of thin arm and leg braces. His pants were made of black cloth, and he possessed a sword dangling at his side; the blade itself was serrated, with the hilt itself being crafted again out of bone — looking suspiciously close to a spinal column — with additional bones forming the guard. He possessed no Scouter.

His comrade was considerably more tame. He was muscular, only slightly slimmer than Raditz, with his hair worn in braided spikes. He wore the same combat armor that Nappa did, though it was forest green, and the pauldrons were an ashen gray. Along his right arm, there was a long-since healed wound, a scar that appeared to have been formed by a blade.

The wild Saiyan let out a laugh, cackling and speaking to his comrade. "Come on, Kuka! Let's go bust some heads!"

"You've always got too much energy," replied Kuka, a rough hand scratching the back of his head. "This is a mission."

The final pod had landed in the Western Capital, but its occupant hadn't bothered to leave, and the hatch was still firmly shut. Even as people crowded around to get a closer look, there was no response as the glass of the sphere's window shone against the sunlight. It was the only remaining Saiyan left — Aspara — and she refused to move.

"_Aspara!_" A stern voice came through her Scouter in their native language. It was Vegeta. "_What do you think you're doing? Step out of the craft, now!_"

"Oh please," replied the female voice, surprisingly soft but no less threatening. She replied in their tongue. "I came to this ball of dust and water expecting a fight. And we land _here_, in this overpopulated mundane city? Feel free to raze them to the ground if you want, but contact me again when you find the fighters."

"_Step out of the craft. Now._" Vegeta's voice dropped into a low timbre over the Scouter, and word was spoken as a threat. "_Don't make me repeat myself again, or you will regret it_."

"...Yes, Your Majesty," Aspara replied icily.

With a hiss, her pod opened, and the form of Aspara stepped out into the Western Capital. She was beautiful, to say the least. For a woman who had seen battle all her life, it appeared to have done far more for her appearance than it would have done for most others. She was possessed of a slight tan complexion, with narrow black eyes, wearing a stern expression. Her hair, contrary to most Saiyans, was worn straight, of a beautiful black sheen, and was combed over her face, obscuring her right eye. Along her cheek was a thin scar. Her combat armor possessed a red breastplate, outline with black, and exposed her midriff, and unlike Nappa and Vegeta, did not opt for crotchguards. She had skintight, black shorts, the exact same material that composed the leotard worn by Vegeta, and black gloves, her boots were black, with red armored tips, and ankle-length. Her tail was wrapped around her waist, and wore a bright red Scouter.

"What's the—?" One of the people gawking at the ship gasped when she exited.

"Are they filming a movie?"

"No, it has to be a public stunt!"

The Earthlings continued to chatter among themselves, and Aspara sighed.

"You lot are lucky," she said, ignoring their use of the Galactic Basic Standard. As she said this, it felt like the planet quaked. and pillars of light could be seen from the other three Capitals. Aspara's Scouter went haywire, as it tuned into the massive spike in _ki_ from her comrades, followed by a sudden drop, and then the complete absence of various Earthling _ki_ signals. "I might leave some of this city intact."

Before they could ask what Aspara was saying, much less what she meant, there was a flash to her eyes, a menacing mien that struck a chord of fear into their hearts. Then came the literal flash, a brilliant red sheen of energy. From Aspara's fingertips, a powerful kikōha was released, utterly destroying a large portion of the street. Water mains busted, spraying the liquid into the air. Bodies, however, were rent asunder, and blood splattered onto the destroyed pavement and concrete, diluting in the water.

"If I wanted to be honest," Aspara continued, "I don't have any real interest in such a base species — I want to get my hands around the necks of those traitorous brothers." With a casual air, another red flash of _ki_, and and the end result was simply more carnage. At this point, Earthlings were running and screaming in terror, attempting to flee the city. With a wild turn, she swung her hand down, and a wave of _ki_ erupted, slicing through a third of the city, creating more needless destruction.

"Is there no one in this city worth my time?" The Saiyan warrior protested.

* * *

**Western Capital, Capsule Corporation**

"What's going on!?" The entire city was shaking, and Bulma could feel the Capsule Corporation building moving along with it. There had been a brilliant flash of red outside the building, and she ran outside to take a look. A large gash was carved into pavement and concrete, and she could see the destruction had spread from further in the city, where smoke plumed and flames were roaring.

"Bulma, what's the matter?" Tights called out to her. "It feels like a bomb just dropped!"

"I honestly wish one had," replied the younger sister. "The destruction here, and those gigantic pillars of light from the other Capitals...it has to be the Saiyans!"

"Now!? I thought we had a little more time!"

"I thought so too!" groaned Bulma, ducking back into the building and thanking their luck that Capsule Corporation had been _narrowly_ missed by that energy blast. "We're just lucky that we've already made most of the necessary preparations." Looking out into the distance, she concluded quickly that there seven foreign powerful _ki_ in total, and each of them at ridiculously high numbers. "Each and every combat strength is over 2,000..." gasped Bulma. "And the third strongest _would_have landed here."

"...How can you tell all of that?" asked Tights, amazed.

"It might sound a bit...odd, but it's a cybernetic enhancement," replied Bulma. "I took the basic concept of the Saiyan Scouter and outfitted myself with it." She gestured to her face, which was as beautiful as ever, but devoid of the Scouter that the Saiyans typically wore. "Once I got a good understanding of it, I was able to reverse engineer it, and with one of the robots in the lab, outfit myself with a similar concept."

"What do we do?" inquired Tights.

"Head to the bunker for now," replied Bulma easily. "We have to wait this out, and then make a run for the Dragon Balls to bring Son directly here. If we go out _now_, we're dead."

Tights nodded, and the two siblings made a move get their family and staff into the underground portion of Capsule Corporation.

* * *

**North Kaiō's Planet**

It had been well over five months since Goku's training under the North Kaiō, and by the deities' own assessment, Goku had made leaps and bounds. The Genki Dama and the Kaiōken; both were techniques of the North Kaiō's own creation, and even he had not fully mastered them. For Goku to have come so far in these short few months, and to use his techniques even more flawlessly than the god who had made them — the Kaiō of the North was more than surprised, but also so very pleased.

"I didn't expect you to come this far," said the deity, looking at the exhausted figure of Goku. "For someone living to come here, and master my techniques in such a short span of time! And even surpass my strength!"

Goku laughed, planted firmly against the ground. His _gi_ was torn, his body battered, but he couldn't look more proud of himself if he tried. "To be honest, I almost thought it was impossible. An' you didn't make it easy on me, either." He looked down at his hands, surprised to see how beaten down he was, but he could still feel so much new power from himself.

"It wouldn't have been training if I held back, now would it?" replied his mentor. "Now, let's see...we've been at this awhile, but the Saiyans should be arriving on Earth soon. Let me give it a check." He turned his attention towards the section of the Universe where Earth was located, completely focusing on the little blue planet. After but a moment's silence, he gasped in terror.

"W-What's wrong?!" inquired Goku.

"The S-S-Saiyans!" stammered North Kaiō. "I didn't expect this...I completely lost track of time during training, and I forgot to calculate the time it'd take you to make it back across Serpent Road...and they're _there!_ The Saiyans are on Earth!"

"Damn it!" Goku clenched his fists, having jumped to his feet in shock. "You can't just fly me back or somethin'!? It took me four months to make it here, and I was runnin' at top speed!"

"If you run right now, it'll still take you a day!" said North Kaiō, now in a full panic. "I made a mistake, I'm sorry, Goku!"

"There has got to be a way!" Goku groaned, his tail twitching in frustration as he cursed their situation. "If Bulma was here, she'd know how to fix this!"

"Bulma? Who is that?" inquired the deity.

"My wife," replied Goku through the agitation. "I ain't much of a thinker unless it's in a fight, but Bulma's always been pretty good at thinking her way out of a problem. I just wish I could ask 'er."

"You can!" replied North Kaiō, turning his back to Goku. "Here! Place your hand on my back and reach out to your wife with your mind. Hurry, Goku!"

"L-Like this?" Goku placed his palm to the North Kaiō's back, and focused his thoughts on Bulma. "_Bulma! Bulma! It's me, Goku!_"

There was a moment of silence, but he heard the familiar tones of his wife ringing through into his head.

"_Son?! Is that you!?"_

"_Yeah! I'm talkin' to you through North __Kaiō, and I ain't got good news! I just finished trainin', but he said the Saiyans are there, and even if I run at full speed, it'll still take me a day to make it back to Earth!_"

"_Oh you bet they're here, and they just destroyed all four Capitals! But I already thought ahead! You stay there, give me a little time, and I'll gather the Dragon Balls! We'll have Shénlóng bring you back to Earth immediately!"_

Goku didn't much fancy the idea of waiting in one spot, but when Bulma became insistent that he conserve stamina, he acquiesced, and the connection was broken. Breathing out a slight sigh, his tail curled up as his impatience began to mount. "I don't really like waitin', especially now that I know everyone will be down there fightin'. But I should have figured she'd use the Dragon Balls."

When North Kaiō looked puzzled, Goku explained how Dragon Balls worked, and the deity couldn't help to be impressed that such wish orbs existed, and was even more impressed by such a simplistic, yet effective, usage for them. With his composure now restored, the deity's antennae pointed towards Goku. "Let's fix up a few things in preparation for this battle."

Goku's ensemble shimmered, before taking on a completely different form. Gone was the tattered _gi_ of which he'd worn for ages. In its place was new attire; the blue undershirt remained, but worn over it was an orange _gi_ top with blue lining from the collar down to the hem, and it wasn't worn tucked like his previous _gi_. Near the base, "亀" was inscribed, but "界王" was inscribed on the back in a large white circle. His _gi_ pants were of a darker orange, and his boots retained their shape, but now blue bandages wrapped from the ankle to the bottom of his pant legs. In place of armbands, Goku now wore blue bandages tied around his palms and wrists, and a blue _obi_ sash kept his _gi_ tied. His tail poked out from the back, much like it had in his childhood.

"Whoa!" Goku gasped, looking down at his new ensemble. "Look at these threads! Impressive! Thanks a bunch!"

"I figured you wouldn't want to go down and fight for the sake of your planet in rags," replied North Kaiō. "Now, I noticed you brought the Ensenji fruit with you. I'm surprised you've got such a powerful item with you, but now's the time to eat it. Your wife could wish you back at any moment, and you'd get killed if you fight while exhausted."

The Saiyan agreed, and went to retrieve the Ensenji from where he'd left it. As he devoured the golden peach, he took a seat, and his thoughts drifted to Earth. How were his friends faring? What about his daughter? There was so much he didn't know right now, and as he felt power swell within his body, it did nothing to help his impatience.

"Bulma! Hurry!"

* * *

**East City, Orin Temple; Minutes Ago...**

Home. It was hard to describe what place was that for the former monk and now devout martial artist is. Having lived his childhood in this place for a good while, he hardly remembered what it was like without Goku and the others. The time spent with his childhood friend and rival was one wrought with danger and excitement every step of the way. Despite being the weaker of the two he had made up for it with quick wit, nimble reflexes and a lot of luck. He thought it ran out when Daimaō Piccolo's henchman, the terrifying Tambourine, had ended his life and a slew of other reputable martial artists during his grave return. Resurrected by the power of the Dragon Balls, he was given a second chance at life.

One he had spent doing what he could to get stronger and find something useful with his life. He tried to help Goku fight Ma Junior in the ring -valiant, many would say- to no avail, having to spend the rest of the effort watching on the sidelines. After it was over and his best friend left back to his own home, Kuririn turned down Muten Rōshi's offer to live on the island with Oolong. Striking out on his own, he tried to start up a martial arts teaching but couldn't find a way to find a place decent at teaching or good pay for the end result. From that point on, he went job hunting for one thing after another, trying to find the right profession.

That's when he meet Kashiko. It was happenstance that they were on the same train, and after an eventful conversation regarding his career as a martial artist, they shared numbers to go out on a date. One thing led to another and they committed to an active relationship. Through her helpful recommendation, he grabbed a position at the Police Force here and became reputably excellent at what he did thanks to his training and natural talent for remaining faithful to his career. With a record low in crime, he was given some vacation time that he tentatively used throughout the better part of his training months in preparation for the Saiyans' arrival. Ending a couple months ago, he went back to work and only now got a weekend opportunity to visit his old place of training and where his path of martial arts started.

And much to his pleasure, he drove the monks who loathed his presence to unending madness as Kashiko barraged them with questions and took pictures wherever she could.

"Oh, what is this?!" Kashiko inquired with saucer-sized eyes aimed at a prominent statue in the center of the temple. There was a bronze outline to it, glossy from the light that shined through the cracks of the place of meditation and learning, giving the rotund yet well built looking effigy a regal appearance. This sparked her curiosity to no abound, much like their livelihood and every spot of space there was to see.

"Please, do not touch!" The Head Temple monk exclaimed. "That is the statue for the first master of Orin Temple, Matsumada Orin!"

"Oh! Was he a competitor of the Tenkaichi Budokai?!"

"No, he was the founder of this temple and taught us our ways-"

"I know, I remember that," She took a few pictures with her camera with a smile. "These pictures will do great for my job, even if none of you can hold a candle to my Kuririn."

"What, that disrespectful scoundrel?! He couldn't stand a single of our practices and only sought strength for strength's sake!" The master spoke with an indignant huff.

"He has no honor!" One of the senior monks shook a fist with a shout.

"I'm sure he's grown quite a bit since then, otherwise, I wouldn't be courting him," She grinned with a confident wink aimed at them.

"G-Get out! You've wasted much of our precious time as it is!" The master insisted with dramatic waves of his arms. "We lost so much time, we will need to double our efforts! Out woman! And take your boyfriend with you!"

"It was nice speaking with all of you," She replied in an innocent sing-song voice, walking away with a wave that only the youngest of the monks waved back bashfully; only for them to be scorned seconds later by the older of the students. Walking out of the temple with Kuririn waiting patiently outside, she clapped her hands in apology and bowed her head to the dwarf. "I-I'm sorry I wasted our time here. I didn't know they'd keep you out!"

"Eh, they got a grudge that's hard to let go. It's whatever," Kuririn put his hands behind his head nonchalantly, turning to walk down the temple's steps while looking over his shoulder at her. "I was surprised they let any visitors in. I guess the younger monks are a bit like I was back in the day. Eager to learn, eager to please and not stubbornly set in their ways just yet."

"They were all nice, till the grumpy ones found out what I was doing inside," She sighed, adjusting her glasses as she walked down the steps in reflection. It may have been the way she was dressed that upset them, when she thought about it. She wore a simple yellow tea with a white flower emblazoned on the left hip that sent strands of vines across the back and front of it. With only a short brown skirt and simple low-heel shoes, the long-haired brunette may have appeared too casual for such a place of learning.

Kuririn on the other hand was dressed in a new gi and was prepared to show off his appearance to the master, only for his person to be barred upon arriving. Unlike his previous gi, this one had a blue border to his orange top to match the sash wrapped around his waist. With the Hermit School emblem placed on the lower left flap, a pair of blue bandage wraps going from his wrist up his forearms. The same orange slacks and flat sole shoes with smooth socks adorned his uniform, but other than a few aesthetic changes, little has changed about the ex-monk's visage.

"I think the grumpier ones were just jealous that some loser like me has a stunning girlfriend like you around. Even if they forbade me to enter, just your presence frustrates them, you know?" He chuckled, doing his best to cheer her up despite the unsavory inhospitable greeting they gave him.

It was enough, giving Kashiko a smile as she turned to lean down and peck Kuririn's cheek with a giggle, "You're so sweet, you know that? It really is part of your charm."

"And my good looks help, don't they?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Haha, and your sense of humor helps too," She joked with a raspberry wink aimed at him.

"H-Hey now! Here I was complimenting you and everything!" Kuririn joked back, his pride only partly hurt as he turned to see some glimpses of light. Blinking at them, he put his hands up block out the flashes they gave, Kashiko soon doing the same. "Falling stars? Well ain't that neat!"

"Do falling stars usually get bigger as they approach?"

"No, that's comets-" Kuririn stopped himself short, suddenly feeling an intense sensation coming off the bodies of astral illumination. It was like an immense gravity had begun crushing his body, the tingling of goosebumps crawling all over his skin and his organs tightening in on themselves. A blueness spread across his nose-less face, his eyes becoming dots and mouth spreading wide. Just out of his periphery, he'd see other streaking lights shoot off in other directions, shrieking by like jets coming in for a bracing landing. The two they saw ahead of the others moved to the center of the city was rushing to its center, as they plowed through tall buildings and landed at its center with a distant boom.

"D-Did something just crash land over there?" Kashiko hesitantly stepped forward, her curiosity building upon the after-quake of the landing. It wasn't until Kuririn grasped her wrist and kept her from taking another step that she turned to see the look of horror splayed over his face. Sweat beaded down his face, landing pitter patter on the tiled ground as he breathed heavily with panic. Looking down with worry, she turned to look at the columns of smoke building from the projectiles' crash. "What is it, Kuririn?"

"We need to go!" He gasped, wheezing slightly as he attempted to recover. "It's the Saiyans; the strongest ones!"

At hearing this, they both witnessed a sudden earth-rending pulse of light sweep the city, all the way to the temple behind them. Gritting his teeth, Kuririn felt an unfathomable and vile _ki_ at work here. Relying on pure instinct, he pulled Kashiko by the wrist to sweep her on his shoulders and jettisoned into the air with a wreathe of his aura surrounding them both. Propelling at his top speed, he felt a flash of heat as the temperature fluctuated, gravity tearing objects, structures and people off the ground into the air with horrified screams and shouts. Closing his eyes, he pushed himself even harder.

"_Please, make it in time!_"

A shockwave struck his back as he escaped the explosion's proximity. In that instant he swerved and tumbled in his desperate flight out of the reach of his unseen assailants. Diving towards the stretch of bamboo forest that was partially blown away from the force of the blast, he saw a stretch of vegetation that had remained regretfully intact. Turning around to hold Kashiko in front of him, he used his back and head to brace the painful impact. Surprisingly, the worst it had done was briefly give him a headache and made him choke on the dirt. A stretch of a dozen meters or so was the outline he and Kashiko made amidst the flora surrounding him.

Pushing back the bamboo off of them, he looked with relief that Kashiko was alright. She groaned and was likely in a bit of shock, but she didn't suffer any life threatening injuries. When he stood up with her in his arms, he looked mortified at the vista before him.

The whole city, the temple and the surrounding land before him was turned into an ash piled crater. Not a single structure was left, nor a bone to pick out. Nothing but a pair of spacecraft the Saiyans had undoubtedly arrived in. Looking up with fear, he saw the two up in the sky, the perpetrators of all this carnage. Gripping Kashiko tightly, she stirred and began to come to her senses.

"K-Kurrin? What's going on?" She quietly asked.

"Those monsters," He hissed, gulping audibly as he continued to shake. "They destroyed the Eastern Capital. Orin Temple, the people and all of the buildings. Everything is gone, without a trace!"

"H-How awful!" Kashiko exclaimed, her eyes turning to see a glimpse of the two hanging in the air. "W-Why are they still here?"

"They're looking for high power levels, like how Raditz found Piccolo and Goku," He intoned with a whisper. "I'll keep my _ki _subdued till they go away-"

Just as he was saying it, he witnessed the pair disappear, faster than he blinked. From the way he sensed, they were moving and fast, towards a distant place. Given the energy he was feeling from distant horizons, he guessed that the other Saiyans have assembled and began the carnage. Only a few he felt were genuinely non-malicious in nature. Those were his friends, no doubt!

"Looks like I'll be a tad late to the party," Kuririn mentioned with a nervous chuckle, hefting her up to get a good grip on her body. "Hold on tight, I'm going to speed you to Kame House and then head straight to the battlefield."

"Before you do that," Kashiko mentioned quietly. "There's something I want to tell you."

"Heh, can't it wai-mph?!" He began to say, only for her to catch him off guard by pulling him into a long kiss. After the two finally parted, she looked worryingly with a glimmer of emotion moistening her eyes.

"Don't die, Kuririn. Please," She begged with a sniffle.

"Hehe, no way am I doing that twice! Now c'mon!" He powered up in a halo of white and shot off into the sky to zoom towards the Hermit's island. "Off to save the Earth!"

* * *

"So, it's time then?" Tenshinhan thought, feeling the swelling of many separate signatures across the globe. He was in the midst of meditation with Chaozu, the pair arching their heads to look from their desert plane to sense the many malicious and powerful surges of energy. The planet would be doomed if this was left unaccounted for. Standing upright, he looked to his partner as the two took turns to take stock of each other.

Both had come along way, and to commemorate their earlier finishing of their trials on God's Palace, they adorned new uniforms to show their progress from their past states of being.

Tenshinhan's person had went for a more simplistic style while still bearing a semblance of his old school's colors. A blue muscle shirt wrapped over his engorged build, a pair of green baggy slacks led to a pair of grey-tinted shin-guards wrapped around his heel to rest a bit over the hem of his tabi slippers. The only new addition was a pair of metal vambraces wrapped by a pair of black bands over his usual green wrist bands. Having fashioned them through his own ki, he knew they'd be invaluable to help defend him in a split second attack from a bladed weapon or a strong-armed hit.

Chaozu had gone with something akin to his older uniform. With a onyx metal-plated grass hat covering his head, he wore a long-sleeved grey cloak with black edges to his sleeves and a red circle around the white backdrop and black lettering of his Crane School emblem. With a pair of grey slacks matching the grey cloak, his black slippers filled out the rest of his new features apart of his own green wrist bands.

"Let's fight together!" Chaozu declared with a valiant fist pump.

"We will," His childhood partner nodded with a grinning nod of affirmation. Letting his own _ki_ flourish with his colleague's, the two surged up from the earth in a sound breaking boom and swept across the heavens towards the horizon.

Into the fray, they'd launch.

* * *

Yamcha, was just having any other day. Content to eating and resting at his old hideout, he knew it was best this way. After telling the Taitans that he'd have to take a long leave of absence, it was with much regret and tears that they told him farewell before he fully committed to training. Finishing a few months back with everybody else, he went back to the old home he had abandoned to live a life with Bulma as his boyfriend for years and years. It'd felt like a lifetime ago.

But now, he felt it, as assuredly as everybody else did.

The ex-bandit stood up hastily and went to quickly change. Pu'ar noticed him scrambling to put his new uniform on, something the others had done after their old ones were tarnished from the gruesome regimen God had put them through. After fully settling in, he turned to face his changeling friend and asked with a grin, "Well, what do you think?"

Pu'ar thought Yamcha looked so different from the times before, it felt like all those months had changed him for the best. Much like Kuririn, his uniform reflected some of those subtle changes. With a sleeveless top that had blue borders, orange much like his slacks, to match the blue obi wrapped tight around his waist. Other than the standard blue slippers and socks fit snug in them, he had an extensive wrap of training tape that had a blue rim at the biceps and triceps, moving past his defined appendages up to the forearm where it became blue to wrap up and over the back of his hand to move between his various knuckles.

"You look great, Yamcha!" He said proudly with a splay of his short appendages. "I'm sure you'll fight good too!"

"No doubt," The long-maned martial artist strode past him, ruffling his friend's head as he grinned confidently, pointing a thumb towards his chin. "There's no way no dumb Saiyan is going to do me in; not unless I kill him back first!"

"Please just don't die, Yamcha!"

"I'll try my best, Pu'ar, but your safety -and the rest of the planet- comes before me," Yamcha intoned seriously, his smile traded out with a serious stare. "That means Bulma, her sister and parents, Pan, and everybody else special to her too. I may not be her boyfriend anymore, but I won't let anything bad happen to her if I have any say about it! It's the least this lousy ex can do!"

Sniffling, Pu'ar wiped a tear from his eye at the considerable speech he said, "K-Knock'em dead, Yamcha!"

"Now THAT'S the spirit, Pu'ar!" He barked out with a laugh, launching out the door with a ignited spray of light that left the changeling aghast at his new strength. Zooming off to the sky, he waved off sadly, doing his best to think positively.

That's all he could do, for the moment.

* * *

**The Battlefield**

The source of the _ki_ that had caught the Saiyans' unanimous attention was a trio of signals, all powering up near the base of a large canyon next to a deserted wasteland. Each one had its own brand of color: purple, rose and bright azure; belonging to Piccolo, Raditz and Pan respectively. After awhile, they relaxed it, not wanting them to be completely scanned and known for their battle power.

They hoped their people would assemble quicker than the Saiyans; less they had to find a way to hold their attention before the fight began, considerably outnumbered and all.

"So this is it, then," Piccolo affirmed with a crease in his hair-less brow. "Our fight is happening ahead of schedule after all."

"We never had a guarantee, just an estimate," Raditz corrected with a scowl, crossing his arms over his chest with readiness. "Never expect us Saiyans to arrive when you want them to. We're an unpredictable bunch like that."

"Heh, reminds me of Son a bit, you saying that," He remarked with a wry grin. "He always tended to arrive when I didn't care or wanted him to be."

"Papa will be here," Pan spoke cheerfully, completely at odds with her serious instructors that had mild expressions of amusement at best. Her broad smile perturbed them, even as her bright eyes aimed up at them. "He'll be so excited to see how strong I am, right?!"

"Let's make sure you live long enough for a touching reunion, kid," Piccolo rolled his eyes at her exuberance.

"Just stay focused on the fight, Pan," Raditz harshly remarked, eyes steeled towards her. "This isn't just training any longer. They are here to kill you and you must be prepared to do the same, got it?"

"Yes, Uncle Raditz!" She replied with a polite fist-palm gesture and bow to him.

"Tch," Raditz tsked, his eyes turning to look at the horizon.

The first of the _ki_ signatures he sensed had arrived. Rubbing at the itching he felt in his eyes -something he had been doing for awhile since the past few weeks he met with Kakarrot's wife- he'd peer towards the halo of auras and be a tad relieved, for the moment. A stay of execution was in order as the pair that dropped before them was none other than the triclops warrior and his albino eternally young partner.

"So, you're the guys we felt this way?" Tenshinhan intoned with an obvious monotone.

"Was there any doubt?" Piccolo snarked.

"No, you guys didn't have the animosity the others did, so it was just process of elimination," The triclops shrugged nonchalantly, taking in the sight of the three. "You three look like you spruced up since we parted. Bulma's doing?"

"Kakarrot's wife only tailored me something a bit more, appropriate," Raditz empathized with a slight tilt of his head and his crossed arms unfolding to reveal his entirely new armor decor. Given the intensity of the past half a year of training, it was only a matter of time till his Saiyan armor completely eroded from wear and tear. Not unusual given that the outfit he was a part of traded out armors as much as they got new Scouters, given how much action they saw; with him it happened less, due to obvious reasons.

Gone were the bare showcasing of his skin on all corners and now for something that gave him near all-encompassing protection to his body. Starting with the shoulders, he had angular ribbed pauldrons that fitted over them both snugly, leading to a grey-to-black series of breastplate and rib guards with only a brown abdominal rectangular plating split down the middle by a grey line set up to the top of his collarbone displayed muscles to the neck and down to his pelvic region. Fit into a singular piece that stretched down to his feet, only a pair of red painted bands on the left and right most parts of the suit in the same way his old bands used to preside, leaving a pair of calf-wrapped boots that had bronze dyed toes and heels. Only one of his old effects remained, the red armband left on his left arm, his old gauntlets replaced with a pair of forearm protective gloves.

The sign of him not wearing a Scouter was just a sign of his training having produced fruit. Other than the more serious and assertive way he carried himself, instead of false confidence masked by an inflated ego. Now he's become the most realistic of the group; something to expect of the Saiyan ally.

"I took liberties to modify the runt and I's own apparel," Piccolo declared factually, arms crossed over his bare emerald-salmon skin, his antennae on display nonchalantly. His purple obi and wrist bands were more or less the same, his own slacks now bearing his mark of the Demon on the lowermost right sleeve in light lavender over the deep violet hue of the silk. Purple slippers were fit with white tabi socks, completing his own appearance as far as a uniform went.

"Don't I look cool?" Pan inquired with fists balled tightly and a smile too big to ignore. A white headband wrapped around a few of the frayed bangs, leaving the rest of her lavender hair to jut up at an angle over her crown. A deep purple sleeveless top wrapped over a white undershirt was bordered by light lavender and wrapped by a black obi above an equally dark pair of slacks. A pair of tabi socks fit into black slipper shoes, a pair of light purple wrist bands finishing her own uniform with an unseen lavender symbol placed on the back of her top to show she was in the Demon School.

"You look ready for battle," He remarked with an encouraging grin. "Hope you're up for it."

"I hope the others show up soon," Chaozu remarked with a hint of worry in his voice. "If it's just us-"

"HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The sudden bellowing knocked them all out of their reverie made of false safety. Looking up, they'd see a large group of silhouettes blocking out the Sun over their heads. The biggest one standing in front had been the one to cry out, flanked by some burly comrades with the smaller ones standing farther aside, the only exception being one who stood above at a slightly higher altitude. Him being the shortest with a wry grin adorned to his face, his widowspeak was all too familiar to Raditz, as was the rest of his squad. Gritting his teeth, he held his ground and didn't flinch at their arrival.

"T-They're here!" Chaozu squeaked with impotent fear.

"Be brave, Chaozu!" Tenshinhan exclaimed, his own eyes squinting at the shadows that loomed over them, sweat already accumulating over his brow. "Their _ki_ is...monstrous. Piccolo, Raditz, even Goku from back then doesn't even compare. Not only is it strong and dense, but vile and full of savage blood lust. Is this what it's like to stand before Saiyan warriors?"

"Be happy, three-eyes, that they're here on personal matters," Raditz rebuked him with knuckles tightening hard enough to make the gloves crinkle audibly. "If this was business, they'd have all attacked us without mercy and let loose unadulterated slaughter upon us. At least now they're just doing it for sport, which is good for us."

"Right," Piccolo intoned quietly, watching the eight descend down to the ground two dozen meters away in opposition to them. "At least this way, they have high ego and pride clouding their judgement. If we play it smart, we can stand a chance even against monsters like these."

"I-I won't run!" Pan declared with a pair of balled up fists held at the ready. "I'll fight with you, Uncle Piccolo and Uncle Raditz!"

"Heh, that's the spirit, runt!" The Daimaō replied with a toothy grin.

"Excuse me!" A lower timbre voice rang out, coming from the shortest of the group. The one known as Vegeta was made obvious to the eldest of the assembled defenders of Earth. With the biggest of the group flanking his right and the only female of the group standing a meter further to his left -bearing an intense scowl at Raditz- he stared at them with an amused expression visible even from their distance. His hands were on his hips, and his head cocked to the side with emphasis to his inquiry. "As much as I love to see you ramble among yourselves, I'm a bit curious. Which one of you is in charge here?"

"Me!" Raditz and Piccolo answered at once, both sharing a brief glare at each other with teeth bared, pointing at themselves insistently. "You're not in charge, I am! Listen here you-!"

"Well? I'm waiting!"

Sighing, Piccolo raised a balled fist up and the Saiyan looked at it a furrowed glare. Both settled into a stance and the Saiyans all exchanged bewildered stares. Just as they were about to wonder what they were up to, they began to chant out loud.

"JAN! KEN! PON!"

At the end, Raditz held out scissors with Piccolo holding rock. The Daimaō grinned victoriously while the Saiyan urged for a rematch. Shrugging the pair did it twice and then thrice, ending with the emerald warrior's ultimate victory. Turning away with a scowl and arms crossed with irritation, Piccolo looked onward with arms crossed and a stoic expression fixated back on his visage.

"I'm the leader, Daimaō Piccolo!" He hardened his scowl, asserting his role that he had abandoned for the past year of training. "Know you stand upon my sovereign soil, interlopers! What business do Saiyans have here with _my_ planet?"

"Oho! The green one's got spunk!" The Prince of the Saiyans admired with a half-mocking, half impressed shout. Turning to look at Nappa and Aspara with a grin, he returned to stare back at him and the guarded people gathered around him. "You see, here's the thing, Nameccian! I got a bone to pick with that traitor standing next to you! By the way he dresses and acts, it's clear he's in bed with you Earthlings. We're here for a personal demonstration of what the consequence of betrayal is!

"But I am not a Saiyan without honor," He placed his hand on his chest, with Piccolo still confused by what he meant in calling him a 'Nameccian'. "In order to show good sport, I'll give you people a chance to fight us one on one. I'll save the best for last -me, obviously- and we won't interfere while you are still standing. Unless you give us a reason to, we won't slaughter you cretins outright and give you a chance. That sounds fair, doesn't it?"

"What's a Nameccian?" Piccolo asked, briefly debating the offer while inquiring Raditz.

"What, you don't know what you are? Did you hit your head as a child too?" He asked incredulously.

"No, I arrived here eons ago, and my former life is the result of a splitting. If my other half knew, I'd have probably known too, meaning something made us forget. Why?"

"Nameccians are a legendary race of warriors and providers of mystic powers that can be conjured by what your Earthlings would call, 'Dragon Balls'. After you people mentioned it and seeing you, it became obvious that you were responsible for the balls in some way, shape or form."

"And you didn't mention this earlier, WHY?" Piccolo hissed harshly.

"You never asked, and I thought it was obvious!" The Saiyan exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

"I SAID-!"

"We heard you loud and clear, Vegeta!" Piccolo replied, outright surprising the Prince for a moment before he regained his amused expression. He elaborated with an amused grin of his own, much to Raditz's visible chagrin. "We know all about you from your 'traitor' spilling his guts to us. And that offer of yours stands, but can you wait a moment for the rest of us to arrive? I'm sure you'd like having the numbers evening the playing field."

"Hmph, if they don't take all day," The Prince murmured with a thinned glare, his smile remaining intact. "Just know that the longer you make us wait, the more impatient we become."

"Wait no more!" A voice proclaimed, high in the sky following a pair of incoming signals. The Saiyans turned with the defenders of Earth, sharing looks of amusement and gratefulness between the two groups. Yamcha and Kuririn dropped from the sky into crouches, rising up and turning to flash grins of eagerness and confidence; Yamcha in particular raising a hand to clench into a vein-pulsating fist. "The calvary's here!"

"Hmph, at least you two look like you're going to pull your weight," Raditz remarked with a shrug.

"There! Didn't have to wait long at all!" Piccolo snapped back.

"Yes," The Saiyan Elite acknowledged quietly, his eyes straying to look at each one intently. His Scouter blinked accordingly, the ruby lens showing a series of alien symbols only he understood. Given from what he could see on the glass HUD, he knew that they were skilled enough to suppress their power level. Turning over to the others, he raised his voice so it was audible enough for the Earthling fighters to hear him. "Now that we've got the boring part out of the way, I'll give your less than stellar members a chance to shine! Which of you will step up to play ball?"

"I'm in!" Tenshinhan declared almost too quickly, surprising the rest at his readiness.

"Are you certain, triclops? I won't give you another chance than this one right now-"

"Just give me an opponent so I can wipe that smirk off your smug face," He replied with snarl.

"You really are just looking for death early? Fine then," He replied, smile still intact as he leaned over and barked out an order. "Coll! Go teach this three-eyed Earthling what it means to challenge a Saiyan warrior!"

"Heh, that's fine by me," He spoke out in a guttural tone, feral grin spread and bone-enamored effects jingling with every step. Looking the most savage of the group, he bore no armor and showed his scars on his uncovered torso and arms, leaving a bare metal mesh that covered his lower body. Perhaps the tallest and leanest of the group, his bone-plated dreadlocks made a wind chime sound as he stepped up towards his opponent, with the three-eyed fighter doing the same. Tilting his head down, he cackled with arms spread outward. "You look like you're going to be fun! Please don't die too quickly, cause I want to take my time prying your three-eyed head off your shoulders; wanna take your head back as a trophy and all, so don't die in just one hit."

"That's funny," Tenshinhan remarked with a brief smile. "I was about to tell you better keep your guard up, less you're the one dead."

Coll let out a barking laugh, spreading his legs and angling his arms around to crack each knuckle audibly. Rolling his neck, he sighed, smile broadly stretched and eyes fixed upon him, "I'll let you make the first move then, tough guy. See if you can kill me dead-"

It happened in a blur.

The three-eyed man moved far faster than the Scouters could blip on the other Saiyans' HUD and even surprised the lean Saiyan. A hand arched up and over, a thumb with bent fingers like a beak, tapping the bigger alien's upper torso. What came next was a sudden explosion of split air pressure, the kiai detonating at point blank at the point of contact, making the Saiyan fly backward and nearly hit his colleagues as they neatly sidestepped his flying frame. Stopping himself short with his heels, he stumbled a bit and blinked, eyes looking down with a balking expression at a small hole punctured in his chest, leaving a trickle of red flowing down his scarred pectorals down his abdomen and splatter on the barren soil between his feet.

"You really are a tough one," Tenshinhan intoned, taking up an angled back stance, his blood-soaked fingers raised with a bent thumb and his opposing arm held in a perpendicularly similar pose, just facing upside down. A serious glint entering his eyes with his smile now intact, goading him with his next choice of words. "I had meant to punch a hole through your chest out your back. Clearly I'll need to try harder!"

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**A/N Demod20**: _Whoo boy! I'm pumped for my shot at writing Tenshinhan vs Coll next chapter! Apologies for this chapter coming out a tad bit late, but I hope the wait was worth it. While most of this was just set-up and description for the heroes and antagonists of this Arc, I had a lot of fun describing the new style of gi and uniforms all of these trained fighters have to show their progress if only on an aesthetic scale (The Dragon Warriors' looks were inspired off of MLL's Redesign on DA. Go check them out, their artwork is phenomenal for the new conceptual designs of Dragon Ball characters!). Other than a little banter from Piccolo and Raditz, to Kuririn sharing some intimate talk with Kashiko (cementing their status as a couple further; when you know, he isn't busy saving her from Nappa's Volcano Explosion!) and Yamcha's determination to protect Bulma's family, I really enjoyed all the stuff added to this chapter, and the great beginning that my partner added in as well. See you all in a couple of months!_

**A/N Firegod00**: _Hey guys, Fire here. I know I'm quiet and when I leave notes, it sometimes comes as a shock. I just want to thank you lot for reading this story, the guys put their hearts (pun intended) into it and I do my best to make sure it's good to go from a grammar perspective. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy what we have this time around._

**A/N LastationLover5000**: _Damn, was this a fun chapter or what? I didn't expect this chapter to take as long as it did, but all things considered, it could have been worse. I have been waiting to write Aspara for a long time, and the other Saiyans were a treat to bring in as well. To anyone noticing, yes, Bulma, of all people, cybernetically modified herself with a built-in scouter. I suppose she's technically a cyborg now? I don't have much to say for my section; I think Demod got the better half of the story, but believe me, it all culiminates into one hell of a chapter. We'll see you all soon!_


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